5 Killed After Tractor-Trailer Crashes Into Town
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LAUGHLINTOWN, Pa. — A tractor-trailer hauling heavy machinery lost its brakes on a mountain road and barreled into this village today, smashing into cars and an apartment house and killing at least five people, authorities said.
The 18-wheeler roared into town with its lights flashing and horns blaring, witnesses said.
Authorities said the truck apparently lost its brakes about two miles outside this village of 750 people 40 miles from Pittsburgh.
Witnesses said it slammed into several parked vehicles before colliding with a car on the two-lane highway. The truck then hit a three-story apartment house whose lone tenant lived on the top floor, setting it on fire, witnesses said.
Two people in the truck and three in the car were killed, said Westmoreland County Deputy Coroner Gerald Fritz.
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