Jan 22, 2026 By Mike Jones 2 min read

An American Red Cross transport van was involved in a rear-end crash with a tractor-trailer on Interstate 70, which closed the Speers Bridge crossing the Monongahela River for about an hour Tuesday morning.

The van was traveling west about 10 a.m. when it struck the back of the rig as they were crossing the bridge, caving in the front bumper and hood.

Firefighters from Charleroi, Rostraver Township and Belle Vernon responded to the scene and closed one lane to traffic before shutting down the westbound side of the highway as they cleared the wreckage.

“There was debris all over the highway so we had to shut (the bridge) down,” Charleroi fire Chief Robert Whiten Jr. said.

Whiten said the driver of the transport van suffered minor injuries in the crash, although Rostraver Township firefighters said the person was transported by ambulance to a local hospital for evaluation. A spokesperson for the American Red Cross of Greater Pennsylvania said the driver, who was not identified, was going to be “OK.”

State police did not immediately release information on how the crash occurred or the identities of the two drivers. Rostraver-West Newton Emergency Services assisted firefighters and police at the scene.

Several hours later, another crash involving a school bus and a tractor-trailer was reported in the westbound lanes of I-70 near the Route 51 interchange in Rostraver Township. No injuries were reported and it was not immediately known which school district the bus belonged to or whether any students were on board at the time.