SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Three people died and two others were injured when an SUV struck a deer along the Indiana Toll Road and crashed into an oncoming pickup truck, police said.
Indiana State Police said preliminary findings indicate the SUV was traveling westbound just before 8 p.m. Sunday when it struck a deer, crossed the tollway's center median and collided with an eastbound pickup truck in northern Indiana's St. Joseph County.
Both the SUV's driver and its sole passenger were pronounced dead at the scene, as was the pickup truck's front seat passenger.
The pickup's driver and a back seat passenger were hospitalized with serious injuries, police said. The crash victims' names have not yet been released.
The crash near the South Bend west plaza prompted an hours-long closure of the tollway's eastbound lanes for the crash investigation and removal of the vehicles. Traffic was moving in both directions again on Monday morning, WSBT-TV reported.
