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Death Toll Rises To 5 In I-78 Crashes, Victims Identified

A fifth person has died after two separate crashes Tuesday on I-78 eastbound in Berks County, authorities said.

At the first crash scene.

At the first crash scene.

Photo Credit: NBC10 Philadelphia

Joshua D. Del Toro, 21, of Reading was pronounced dead at 9:47 p.m. Wednesday at Reading Hospital, the Berks County Coroner's Office said Thursday.

An autopsy is scheduled for Monday evening at Reading Hospital. 

Del Toro was a front seat passenger in a sedan involved in a chain reaction crash caused by a tractor-trailer that did not slow down for stopped traffic around 10:30 p.m. Tuesday at mile marker 18.1 in Upper Tulpehocken Township, Pennsylvania State Police said.

Yalibet Lopez-Perez, 24, of Reading, a rear-seat passenger in the sedan died at the scene, authorities said.

The sedan struck an SUV driven by Jonny Young, 54, of Loyalsock Township (Lycoming County). He was also pronounced dead at the scene, the coroner's office said.

I-78 eastbound was closed at that point due to a previous crash, and traffic was being diverted off exit 19 in Strausstown, state police said. 

The first crash happened just before 8:30 p.m. on the eastbound lanes of I-78 in Tilden Township, when the driver of an empty school bus failed to come to a stop in a construction zone and struck a Chevrolet Cruze, according to state police.

The collision caused the car to become lodged underneath the bus, police said. The bus driver then hit a Nissan Xterra, pushing it into a tractor-trailer.

Chevrolet Cruze driver August D. Schwartz, 20, of South Whitehall Township, and a front-seat passenger in the Nissan Xterra, Thalia Jackson, 25, of Easton, were both pronounced dead at the scene, the coroner's office said.

No charges have been filed and the investigation is ongoing.

Anyone with information on the crashes is urged to contact Pennsylvania State Police at (610)-562-6885.

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