Driver killed in crash near Harrisburg Pennsylvania

Police are working to identify the driver killed after an almost head-on collision with a tractor-trailer Monday afternoon on state Route 194 in Washington Township in northern York County.

The driver was driving a Toyota sedan southbound on state Route 194, near Leathery Road, at about 1:35 p.m., when, for unknown reasons, it crossed the double yellow line and struck the northbound tractor-trailer nearly head on, on the driver's side of the car, said Trooper Adam Reed, the public information officer for Pennsylvania State Police in Harrisburg.

Almost immediately, the car burst into flames, as did the cabin of the tractor-trailer, Reed said. The driver of the car died at the scene and the truck driver - a 45-year-old male from Elizabethtown - was taken to Hershey Medical Center with minor injury, Reed said.

At the scene, Reed said the car was so badly charred that police could not tell if there was just one or perhaps multiple fatalities. He added that there didn't appear to be any remains of another person, but police were continuing their investigation.

Reed said he also was unable to determine the make or model of the vehicle, or read the license plate on the car, because of the charring. He said police would need to rely on DNA testing or dental records to identify the driver, adding the investigation would take longer because of the state of the vehicle. Reed said he believed speed and wet road conditions were possible factors for the crash, both of which can result in "tragic consequences."

"This is one of the worst ones I've seen in a while," Reed said. Route 194, in the areas of Ridge Road and Creek Road, was closed for several hours as police investigated. Reed said crews estimated the road would open in the later evening, around 8 p.m.

Pennsylvania State Police's collision team and forensic service unit also responded to the crash. More information is pending from police.