A Bloomville couple was killed early Tuesday in a three-vehicle, chain-reaction crash on U.S. 30 in Crawford County, Ohio, after a westbound pickup truck sideswiped a semi-truck, crossed the median and struck their minivan in the eastbound lanes, the Crawford County Sheriff's Office said.
The crash was reported at 6:27 a.m. on Tuesday, November 10, in the eastbound lanes of U.S. 30 west of State Route 602 in Whetstone Township, according to the sheriff's office news release.
Source: Crawford County Sheriff's Office via Shelby News Reporter
How the crash happened, step by step
In its preliminary investigation, the sheriff's office said a westbound 2006 Lincoln Mark LT pickup truck sideswiped a westbound semi-truck that was travelling in the right-hand lane of U.S. 30.
After that first contact, the pickup left the roadway to the left, entered the median and lost control after striking the embankment of an emergency turnaround between the eastbound and westbound lanes, the release states.
The pickup then entered the eastbound lanes of U.S. 30 and struck a 2024 Toyota Sienna minivan that was travelling eastbound, according to the sheriff's office.
The victims and the injured driver
The minivan's driver, Thomas Ward, 72, and his front-seat passenger, Kathy Ward, 73, both of rural Bloomville, died at the scene, the sheriff's office said. The Crawford County Coroner's Office was among the agencies that responded.
The pickup's driver, a 19-year-old man from Broadview Heights, Ohio, was flown from the scene by a MedFlight medical helicopter to an Ohio State University hospital, the sheriff's office said. The release did not name him and did not describe his condition. It also did not name the semi-truck driver or describe any injury to that driver.
Road closure and emergency response
Eastbound U.S. 30 was shut down from County Road 330 (East Junction) to State Route 602 for roughly two and a half hours while crews worked at the scene, the sheriff's office said.
Alongside the Crawford County Sheriff's Office: Whetstone Township Volunteer Fire, Jefferson Township Volunteer Fire, Life First EMS, the Crawford County Coroner's Office, MedFlight and the Ohio Department of Transportation.
Why this stretch of road matters
U.S. 30 is one of northern Ohio's main east-west corridors, carrying commuters, farm traffic and heavy semi-trucks across Crawford County. On divided highways like this one, the grass median and its emergency turnarounds are the only separation between opposing high-speed traffic, so a vehicle that loses control in the median can reach the oncoming lanes in seconds, with little time for drivers on the other side to react.
For truck drivers and other travellers who use U.S. 30 through Bucyrus and Whetstone Township, Tuesday's closure is a reminder that the early-morning hours, when the crash happened, combine darkness, commuter traffic and freight traffic on the same corridor.
What happens next
The sheriff's office described its account as a preliminary investigation, which means the sequence above can still be revised as deputies complete their crash report. The release announced no charges or citations, and any decision on charges would normally wait until the investigation is finished. The condition of the 19-year-old driver flown to hospital had not been released in the sheriff's statement.