Ohio man killed, driver injured in tractor-trailer crash on Pa. Turnpike near Donegal

A Columbus, Ohio, man was killed and another person was injured in a crash early Wednesday on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, according to state police.

Crews were dispatched to the eastbound lanes at mile marker 91, about one mile east of the Donegal interchange at 3:55 a.m. Thursday for reports of the crash that sent a tractor-trailer over a hillside. According to a 911 dispatcher, the tractor-trailer was the only vehicle involved in the accident.

Amadou Alassane, 48, who was a passenger in the tractor-trailer, was pronounced dead at the scene by the Westmoreland County Coroner’s office, according to Trooper William Petras of the turnpike detail in Somerset.

Petras reported the driver of the rig, Assata Hamedine Mbodj, 30, also of Columbus, suffered minor injuries and was transported by ambulance to AHN Forbes Regional Hospital in Monroeville.

According to police, Mbodj was eastbound, drove off the south side of the toll road and overturned on to the driver’s side. Petras said the tractor-trailer came to rest off the shoulder of the eastbound lanes facing west.

He said the cause of the crash remains under investigation and no further information could be released at this time.

All eastbound lanes between New Stanton and Breezewood were initially closed while crews responded, according to Tribune-Review news partner WPXI-TV. All lanes reopened before noon.

BREAKING: All Lanes of the Pa Turnpike Eastbound are now CLOSED between New Stanton and Breezewood. #PittsburghTraffic #WPXI https://t.co/UyYsfsftyh pic.twitter.com/ESFRkVwCIh

— WPXI Traffic (@WPXITraffic) July 29, 2021