A truck driver from Pikeville died in a crash on a Texas freeway on Friday that also claimed the lives of a woman and her three children. The father from the same family was in critical condition.
Wanda Gebhart, 64, was the victim from Pikeville. Police said she caused the chain reaction crash on eastbound I-30 at Mount Pleasant, 100 miles northeast of Dallas.
Police said, "Two adults and three children lost their lives at 8:22 a.m.
on I-30 at Jefferson (Bus. 271) when a tractor-trailer rear ended another tractor-trailer that was pushed into a minivan. The minivan was then pushed into the back of another tractor-trailer that was pushed into a forth tractor-trailer.
"An earlier accident at 7:18 a.m., without fatalities, had backed up traffic on the highway when a U-haul vehicle crashed on I-30 at the east city limits.
"The combination of the accidents had eastbound lanes on I-30 closed until 2 pm.
"The fatality crash is being investigated by the Texas Department of Public Safety Crash Reconstruction Investigators.
"From the second crash that involved five vehicles, three truck drivers were treated at Titus Regional Medical Center. One man from the minivan was flown to Christus Mother Francis Hospital in Tyler in stable but critical condition. He lost his wife and three children in the crash. The truck driver who initiated the chain reaction crash lost her life."