Police: Crash kills 1, injures 4

A two-vehicle crash Sunday evening killed one young woman and injured four others - one of them critically, police said.

The crash, which closed part of Chestnut Avenue for several hours, occurred about 6:30 p.m. after a motorist in a Honda Civic was turning left from Chestnut Avenue onto Juniata Gap Road and into the path of an oncoming Jaguar sedan that was heading southbound, Logan Township police said.

"It appears the Civic was making a turn without yielding, and the oncoming vehicle, which had a green light, hit [the Civic] on the passenger side," Logan Township Lt. Gil Barton said.

One woman from the Civic was ejected, and several appeared to have suffered significant injuries in the crash, Barton said, indicating that they were transported to Altoona Regional Medical Center for treatment.

Investigators at the scene believed the women in the Civic were Penn State Altoona students.

One was confirmed dead at the hospital but identification was being withheld pending notification of family, Logan Police Chief Ron Heller said late Sunday night.

Officials blocked off Chestnut Avenue between East Howard Avenue and North Second Street, detouring traffic for several hours to investigate the crash. A portion of the roadway was still blocked shortly before 10 p.m.

Airbags were deployed in both vehicles.

Altoona and Logan Township fire departments had to rip the roof off the Civic to extricate several of the passengers.

Barton did not immediately know if the passengers were wearing seatbelts at the time of the crash.

The driver of the other vehicle declined treatment at the scene, telling an emergency responder he only had a few scrapes from the crash.