By JOHN M. HOOBER III, Staff
A van driver died and his passenger was badly injured in a Wednesday morning head-on crash on Route 897 near Adamstown.
Paul R. Blessing, 73, of Bowmansville, died in the 8:50 a.m. accident that happened at the Willow Street intersection, just south of Adamstown, in Brecknock Township, Ephrata state police said.
Mildred Witwer, 70, also from Bowmansville, is listed in poor condition at Reading Hospital and Medical Center. She suffered collapsed lungs and a broken leg, police said.
A 2000 International dump truck driven by Shane Michael Reichard, 31, of Lebanon, collided with Blessing's 1994 Chevrolet Astrovan, Trooper Jeffrey Menet said.
As Reichard was driving south on Route 897, he missed a right curve and his truck crossed over the center lane, striking Blessing's van head-on, the trooper reported.
Deputy Coroner James Lynch pronounced Blessing dead at the scene. An ambulance took Witwer to the hospital.
Reichard suffered a minor injury to his head when it hit the windshield, police said.
The accident, which closed Route 897 for four hours, remains under investigation. A state police accident reconstructionist, vehicle inspector, criminal investigators and forensic experts were all summoned to the scene.
Blessing was the second person killed in a Wednesday morning traffic accident.
Daniel J. Fieni, 24, Lebanon, died when a truck struck him at about 2:30 a.m. on Route 230, just west of Mount Joy.
Also on Wednesday, a 70-year-old Lititz man was injured in a two-vehicle crash at South Locust Street and East Second Avenue in Lititz.
Edward J. Ennis, 70, of Plateau Road, Lititz, failed to stop for a stop sign at the intersection, at 11:21 a.m., and his vehicle was struck by a vehicle driven by Larry D. Zimmerman, 66, of West End Avenue, Lititz, borough police Officer Jared A. Hahn reported.
Lititz firefighters freed Ennis from his vehicle. Warwick Ambulance transported him to an area hospital.
A vehicle driven by Ryan Dean Schoening, 18, Drumore, struck an embankment and overturned shortly after 3 p.m. Wednesday in the 1100 block of Silver Spring Road in Drumore Township, Lancaster state police said.
The vehicle, which came to rest in a field, required towing, but there was no word of injuries. Schoening had a juvenile passenger, police said.
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