Car Runs into Crowd at Pennsylvania Festival, 12 Hurt

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Sept. 11--About 12 people were injured when a car, fashioned into a giant beer can, drove into a crowd of people at Funfest in downtown Hazleton on Saturday afternoon.

Police said nine people were taken to Hazleton General Hospital. Additionally, one boy and one girl were flown to Lehigh Valley Hospital near Allentown and one woman was taken to Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center in Plains Township with head trauma after the crash at West Broad and Laurel streets.

Their identities, and the extent of their injuries, was unknown Saturday night.

The vehicle, which was leaving the Funfest Car Show, went into the crowd after the driver lost control for an unknown reason.

City and state police are investigating, and said additional information would be released once the investigation is complete.

Ambulance workers, firefighters and police rushed to aid those injured. A young boy and girl cried as they clung to men while their injuries were assessed.

The injured were loaded into waiting American Patient Transport Systems and West Hazleton ambulances and taken to area hospitals for treatment.

"When we got here there was just a lot of panic and people all over," city Fire Chief Donald Leshko said.

A crowd of more than 100 people gathered around the crash scene, Leshko said. Police and security workers from a private company pushed the people back so emergency workers could tend to the injured, he said.

As soon as emergency workers got done tending to one injured person, Leshko said, more victims were found. He said some ambulance personnel and police, already stationed at Funfest as a precaution, got to the scene in seconds.

At least one vendor's tent was destroyed by the crash and people worked to clean up the debris, including glass that was left shattered on the street. Among the debris were a cracked fish tank and what appeared to be small, painted shells in another container.

The car sustained at least one dent in the front end and was missing an orange reflector that was found laying on the ground beside it.

Judiann McGrogan, Funfest executive director, said the festival committee is always concerned for people's safety and hires Intrepid Detective Agency, a local security firm, to patrol the area. She said the committee also has a working relationship with local ambulance companies and police who provide extra security measures and medical assistance should it be needed.

Hazleton Police Chief Robert Ferdinand, who was one of several off-duty members of the police department called to the crash, said it was the first time in the history of Funfest that an accident of this nature occurred.

McGrogan called the incident a "freak accident" caused by some type of vehicle malfunction. She said the Funfest security team was keeping her up to date and that she was concerned for those injured.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the injured," she said from the Funfest headquarters on Broad Street. Though the accident was "terrible," McGrogan said the festival would continue as it's important to the Hazleton area. Donna Palermo, president of the Greater Hazleton Chamber of Commerce, echoed McGrogan's comments.

Ferdinand said because police were unsure of the extent of the injuries sustained in the crash and the incident's severity, they called state police and its records and identification unit to join the investigation. The scene was closed off to festivalgoers until police left the area.

achristman@standardspeaker.com