Patrol Investigating Cause of I-70 Crash

Five people are dead after a two vehicle accident Wednesday afternoon on Interstate 70 in Muskingum County.

It happened around 12:45 p.m. in the eastbound lanes near the Brownsville exit, west of Zanesville.

The Ohio State Highway Patrol says a Chevy Cavalier was initially traveling in the westbound lane.

"The vehicle came across the median into the eastbound lanes, where it was struck by a van from Washington D.C. " says Ohio State Highway Patrol spokesman, Sergeant Max Norris.

Norris says the three adults and the two children in the Chevy Cavalier died at the scene because of major damage to the vehicle. He says they are all from Ohio, but did not specify a city yet.

"When a vehicle is hit in the side the way the car was because when the car came across the median, it came across sideways. So, even though it’s considered a head-on collision, the vehicle was at a side angle. That’s where there is not a lot of structural part of the car to take that shot, to take damage from that, " says Norris.

Norris says a female driver and child in the van were taken to a local hospital for treatment. The woman is in serious condition.

The names of the victims were not released until family is notified .

The cause of the accident remains under investigation.