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Authorities have identified the 20-year-old victim killed in a one-car crash in Cheltenham early Sunday.
The victim has been identified as Nicholas Bednarek, of Abington, Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele and Cheltenham Township Acting Police Chief John Slavin said Monday afternoon.
An autopsy performed Monday morning on Bednarek's body revealed that his cause of death was multiple blunt impact injuries, according to the county coroner's office.
Cheltenham police were called to the crash scene on Greenwood Avenue around 1:35 a.m., where they found five occupants, aged 17 to 19, trapped inside a 2006 Honda, authorities said.
An 18-year-old male was driving the car, which left the road, sideswiped a guardrail, and then collided with two utility poles, according to police.
All occupants were taken to area hospitals, where the four surviving victims remain in critical condition.
Arriving officers reportedly found open containers of alcohol in the car. The group apparently was returning home from one of the victims' 19th birthday celebrations, according to CBS3.
“This is every parent’s worst nightmare, and our hearts go out to Nicholas’s family and the other families. We pray for a full recovery of all of the young people,” DA Steele said.
“These crash investigations, especially one involving a death, take time, and we are in the early stages of the investigation.”
The crash remains under investigation.
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