Natural Gas Truck Driver Killed In PA Crash

Stargazette.com

By Jason Whong

MANSFIELD – A driver of a truck carrying sand believed to be used for natural gas drilling was pronounced dead after his truck drove off U.S. Route 15 early Thursday morning in Mansfield Borough.

The driver, David J. Wian, 56, of Beech Creek, Pa., was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident, just west of the southbound on-ramp from U.S. Route 6. The cause of Wian’s death will not be known until the autopsy is complete, Mansfield Borough police said.

Mansfield Fire Chief James Welch said Wian’s truck was northbound on U.S. 15 about 12:30 a.m. Thursday when it crossed the median, crossed the southbound side of the road and went over an embankment into a culvert.

The truck remained there until it was hauled out about 3 p.m.

The southbound on-ramp was closed while the truck was removed, Welch said.

Mansfield police believe the sand product carried by the truck is used for hydraulic fracturing in natural gas wells. The truck is registered to Roy Struble Trucking Inc., also of Beech Creek, Pa. Read more