PITTSBURGH (KDKA) –State police are investigating a fatal crash caused by a deer on a highway  in Armstrong County.

It happened around 5:30 a.m. this morning along Route 422 where it meets Mushroom Farm Road in West Franklin Township.

Police say a car headed eastbound hit a deer, and that deer either wobbled or fell into the westbound lane. The deer was hit again, and the car headed westbound proceeded to slam into a tractor trailer.

“They were trying to come back up the road to remove the deer because they knew it was sitting in the lane,” Lt. Thomas Dubovi with the state police said. “But before they could turn around and get back up, the second vehicle had hit the deer.”

The second hit is what caused the fatal accident.

Two people in the westbound car weren’t wearing seat belts, and were ejected. One of them died, the other was flown to UPMC Presbyterian Hospital in Pittsburgh.

Police say it’s a grim reminder of the importance of seat belts.

“The passenger compartment of the vehicle was undamaged,” Dubovi said. “He wouldn’t have been ejected at least.”

The car that originally hit the deer eastbound was not seriously damaged, and the driver wasn’t hurt. The driver of the tractor trailer wasn’t hurt either.

Traffic was closed for around 2 and a half hours, as crews cleaned up and investigated the scene.

So far, the names of the victims haven’t been released.

Stay with KDKA for more on this breaking story.

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