Heavy rain and flooding was the cause of a crash that injured one woman in West Earl Township early Wednesday morning.
According to West Earl police, Groffs Run overflowed its banks and flooded Route 772 just west of Forest Hill Road around 1 a.m. Emergency services subsequently closed Route 772 between Forest Hill Road and Locust Street.
Around 1:50 a.m., a West Earl police officer was at the intersection of Route 772 and Locust Street resetting a barricade, when a white minivan approached the intersection from the east, traveling at a high rate of speed on Route 772. The minivan drove right past the barricade and the officer, and managed to get through the high water on the road, police said.
When the minivan reached the other barricade at Forest Hill Road, it crashed into a tractor-trailer that was in the process of turning around, due to the flooding. The minivan was wedged underneath the tractor-trailer.
West Earl police said the minivan’s driver, Mary Geiter, 66, of Paradise, was trapped inside her vehicle for about 30 minutes before emergency responders managed to free her.
She was taken to Lancaster General Hospital for treatment of injuries sustained in the crash, along with her passenger, Elam Smucker, 57, of Paradise.
Geiter was listed in fair condition at the hospital Wednesday morning, according to a nursing supervisors.
The tractor-trailer driver, Craig Taylor, 57, of East Earl, was not injured.
Investigation into the crash continues.