MERCER COUNTY Crash on icy road kills two

One victim had just pulled two women from their overturned vehicle when he was hit.
By HAROLD GWIN VINDICATOR SHARON BUREAU
MERCER, Pa. -- A man who retired on disability after being injured in a traffic accident two years ago was among the victims claimed in an icy accident Tuesday on Interstate 80 in East Lackawannock Township.
Michael K. Overton, 42, of Warren, who stopped to assist two women whose car overturned along the highway, was struck and killed by a tractor-trailer that slid out of control, Pennsylvania State Police said.
The female driver of the car, Zainub Ashraf, 26, of 5731 Logan Arms Drive, Liberty Township, was also killed by the truck, police said.
That winding, hilly section of I-80 has been the scene of numerous accidents over the years, though the last fatality recorded there, in November 2000, was a pickup truck and tractor-trailer collision in the eastbound lanes that killed Jack L. Smith, 45, of Bethel Park.
If it ices up, it's a bad time," said Trooper Eric Miller, who investigated Tuesday's crash, which occurred on a sharp curve on a downhill grade.
What happened: Police said Ashraf was eastbound on I-80 around 7:30 a.m. Tuesday when she lost control of her car on an icy section of road, police said. The car ran off the road and rolled onto its roof in the median, police said.
Overton stopped at the scene and helped Ashraf and her mother, Asma Ashraf, 54, also of 5731 Logan Arms Drive, Liberty Township, out of their overturned vehicle.
Overton was a former building inspector for the city of Warren. He took a disability retirement in April 1999. Overton had said that he took the disability because of injuries he suffered in an auto crash in 1999.
"I'm very surprised and very, very sorry for his family," Warren Mayor Hank Angelo said. "I just wrote a letter of recommendation for him about two months ago. He was a very, very good employee and well liked. My deepest, deepest sympathy goes out to the family, and I believe the family can be proud of his actions in so many ways."
Asma Ashraf told Miller that she, her daughter and Overton were standing on the berm looking at the overturned car when they heard a tractor-trailer sliding on the road behind them. She said she turned to see the rig almost on top of them and was standing just 2 feet from her daughter when the truck hit Zainub and Overton.
Police said the tractor-trailer, driven by Dennis K. Pingel, 46, of Woodburn, Ind., came upon the scene and slid out of control in the same spot as the Ashraf car did.
Killed instantly: The rig ran off the road and slammed into the overturned car, striking Overton and Zainub Ashraf, killing them both instantly, police said.
Dr. David Hoyt, Mercer County deputy coroner, ruled the deaths an accident and said both victims died of blunt force trauma to the head and torso.
The tractor-trailer was seriously damaged, and Pingel and his wife, Dora Bell Pingel, 41, suffered minor injuries, police said.
Asma Ashraf suffered minor injuries in the car accident, police said.
Another tractor-trailer later jackknifed moments later at the same location but wasn't involved n the crash.
One of the eastbound lanes was closed about five hours because of the crash and the Pingel rig leaked diesel fuel that required the cleanup efforts of a hazardous materials crew, police said.
No charges have been filed. A state police accident reconstruction team has completed its preliminary work but it will take a couple of months for the team to issue its findings, Miller said.
Reaction: To co-workers, Overton was a nice guy, someone who had a strong work ethic and commitment to family and community.
Skip Hanes, an engineering aide for Warren, said he worked closely with Overton and spent a lot of lunch hours with him, talking about their military experience, hunting, motorcycles and the head-on collision a few years back that kept Overton off his feet for a while.
He said Overton was a Navy veteran.
"Naturally we're all shocked and saddened," Hanes said. "He was a very likable guy. He always had a ready smile."
He said Overton often talked of his wife and two sons and said "they were his center."
Julie McDanelok of the engineering, building and planning department, said Overton's former colleagues are saddened by the death.
"When I heard he got out [of his car] to help someone, I thought, 'That's Mike,'" she said.
XCONTRIBUTORS: Peggy Sinkovich and Amanda Davis, Vindicator Trumbull staff writers.