5 women killed when tractor-trailer hits minivan, passengers after interstate crash

SCOTT TOWNSHIP, Pa. (WBNG/Gray News) - A crash on a snowy Pennsylvania interstate killed five New York women Tuesday evening.

The accident happened on Interstate 81 in Lackawanna County, the Associated Press reported.

WNEP said the women were all from the same family, but it’s unclear how exactly they are related.

Pennsylvania State Police said four of the women were in a 2022 Honda Odyssey when the driver lost control and collided with a concrete divider. The impact left the Odyssey disabled on the left lane.

An Audi A6 carrying two relatives of the people in the Odyssey immediately stopped on the right shoulder after the crash. The occupants of the Audi crossed both travel lanes to check on those in the Odyssey, who were standing in the left lane.

A tractor-trailer then collided with the Odyssey and struck the people standing on the interstate, killing three of them. Two people in the Odyssey were also killed.

The driver of the tractor-trailer and the driver of the Audi were injured in the collision.

Those who died in the crash were Harvrist Zebari, 42, of Endwell; Fatma Ahmed, 71, of Binghamton; Shahzinaz Mizouri, 56, of Vestal; Aleen Ameen, 19, of Johnson City; and Berivan Zebara, 43, of Johnson City.

Police said the crash remains under investigation.

A winter weather advisory had been in effect until 4 p.m. Tuesday for the area, with several inches of snow tapering off in the afternoon, the Associated Press reported.

A trucker who traveled in the same direction hours later, Janet Pohoda, said the roads were slick from snow, WNEP reported.