Truck, Senior Center Van Collide, Killing Two

Motorists bolted from their cars Tuesday to help free two elderly people trapped in a van that had been crushed by a tractor-trailer truck. Both victims died later at a hospital.

“It was so loud that my cats just scattered,” said Christine Strang, who lives nearby. “I ran to the window and I could see that it was bad and called 911. I could hear shouting and moaning. Oh my God, it was awful. I started shaking.”

The crash occurred about 1 p.m. at an intersection marked all four ways with traffic lights.

The truck had just gone over the crest of a hill, heading west, when it collided with the northbound van, which shuttles elderly people on doctors’ visits and shopping trips, Deputy Police Chief James DiCarlo said. It can carry 12 passengers but had only two on Tuesday.

The van was knocked onto its side and crushed. The tractor-trailer jackknifed and ended up flush against the bottom of the van.

The driver of the van, Shirley Gottlin, 57, had cuts and bruises and was hospitalized for observation. The truck driver, Michael Schur 29, of Strasburg, Va., was taken to a hospital for examination.