GINTHERS - Seven people were flown to trauma centers after a violent head-on crash in Rush Township Saturday afternoon that left a total of 11 people injured.
The crash happened at 12:34 p.m. on Claremont Avenue, Route 309, at the bottom of the Mile Hill and just north of the intersection of Main Street that leads to the Village of Quakake.
Rush Township Police said Jarih Martinez Fermin, 23, of Summit Hill, was driving a 2014 Subaru Forester south on Route 309 when he crossed over the median and collided head-on with a northbound 1999 Ford F-350 van driven by John Kurtz, 61, of East Fallowfield, Chester County.
Fermin was trapped inside the twisted wreckage of his SUV and had to be cut free by members of the Tamaqua Rescue Squad.
In addition to Kurtz, police said there were nine passengers in the van, ranging from ages 7 to 33.
Firefighters worked for more than an hour to remove the injured from the van, taking the most seriously injured first.
A few people from the van were taken to a nearby home by neighbors before emergency personnel arrived in order to get them out of the sub freezing temperatures, firefighters at the scene said.
Police said Fermin and six passengers from the van were taken by ambulance to the McAdoo ballfield where they were flown to trauma centers at Lehigh Valley Hospital, Cedar Crest, and St. Luke's Hospital, Fountain Hill.
A total of seven air medical helicopters landed in McAdoo at a landing zone set up by McAdoo firefighters.
In addition, Kurtz and four other passengers in the van were taken by ambulance to Lehigh Valley Hospital Hazleton Campus and St. Luke's Hospital Coaldale Campus for treatment of less serious injuries.
Police said their investigation into the accident is continuing and that DUI may have played a role in the crash.
Busy Route 309 was closed for several hours while the victims were removed, the crash investigated and the vehicles removed from the scene.
Hometown fire police shut down Route 309 and diverted traffic onto alternate routes around the crash site.
Police did not have the identities of the passengers in the van and where they were going from or going to.
EMS units, both basic life support and advanced life support, from Schuylkill, Carbon and Luzerne counties responded to the scene along with firefighters from Hometown, McAdoo, Tamaqua and Quakake.
McAdoo firefighters were assisted at the landing zone by firefighters from surrounding communities.
Police said more information will be available on the crash as the investigation continues.