2 killed while changing tire along highway

Three men were struck, two of them fatally, when a vehicle plowed into two vehicles Friday night along Route 222 in Ontelaunee Township as several males were changing a tire.

Fourth and fifth victims are reportedly in critical condition in Reading Hospital where they were taken after the crash about 9:30 p.m. in the southbound lanes about three-quarters of a mile north of Route 61,

Northern Berks Regional police said Saturday.

Kenneth J. Ortiz, 22, and his brother, Kevin C. Ortiz, 26, both of Laureldale, were pronounced dead at the scene at 11:53 p.m. by Berks County Deputy Coroner Robert Bickham, according to acting Coroner Jonn M. Hollenbach.

Kenneth Ortiz died of injuries to his torso and Kevin Ortiz died of head injuries, Hollenbach said. Their deaths were ruled accidental, and were the 14th and 15 traffic deaths this year in Berks.

The third man struck, a 25-year-old from Temple, was taken to Reading Hospital for critical injuries, as was a 27-year-old woman who had remained in the disabled car, police said. Their names were not released by police.

Also transported to the hospital, for non-lifethreatening injuries, was a 25-year-old man from Muhlenberg Township who was driving the striking vehicle, police said. His name was also unavailable.

The crash remains under investigation, but police provide this preliminary account:

A vehicle occupied by a man and a woman became disabled by a flat tire, and the operator pulled off the left side of the highway to the left of the fog line and activated the four-way hazard lights.

Two friends came by a short time later to help change the tire and parked in the left lane to block traffic, so the trio of men could change the right rear tire, which was close to the fog line. The operator of the assisting vehicle did not turn on the hazard lights.

A vehicle traveling south in the left lane slammed into the back of the vehicle in the left lane. The chain-reaction continued and the men changing the tire were hit.

“They were either struck by the vehicle traveling south or stuck by the vehicle that was struck, or it could have been both vehicles,” Officer Shea Nolan said.

The striking vehicle continued south and rolled onto its roof.

Fire and rescue crews freed the driver — the 25-year-old — from that vehicle. They also had to free the woman in the originally disabled vehicle.

Nolan said in emergencies such as a flat tire along a busy highway, it’s a good idea to call police to provide highly visible protection against traffic.

“If you don’t want to call police, then use flares or some sort of triangles (road safety triangles) to make yours look visible,” he said. “Police are going to be your best bet because we could sit behind you with our lights flashing.”

(Reporter Jeremy Long contributed to this report).