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Another person caught up in Route 15 crash dies of injuries

BLOSSBURG – Last week’s five-vehicle pileup in the southbound lanes of Route 15 has claimed a second life, state police confirmed.

Harold “Don” Whipple, 33, of Williamsport, died Wednesday at the Robert Packer Hospital in Sayre, where he was admitted with critical injuries he suffered in the crash that occurred 3 miles south of here about 2:50 p.m. Aug. 3, police said.

He was a passenger in a stopped Ford Taurus that was hit from behind in a chain-reaction crash that occurred when a Freightliner service truck driven by Keith Bryson, 39, of Watsontown, plowed into a stopped Honda Civic driven by Micheal McCollum, also 39, of Watsontown, police said.

Whipple and the driver of the Taurus, Andy Puhlick, 28, of South Williamsport, along with McCollum, all were flown in medical helicopters to Robert Packer.

McCollum died Saturday at the hospital of injuries he suffered in the crash.

His memorial service is scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday at Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church in Turbotville.

An employee of Corning Inc., Corning, New York, for 18 years, McCollum was a 1995 graduate of Warrior Run High School and a 1997 graduate of Pennsylvania College of Technology, where he received an associate’s degree in applied science.

Puhlick remained hospitalized in stable condition, a nursing supervisor said Wednesday night.

McCollum’s Civic struck the rear of Puhlick’s car, which in turned was pushed into a Chevrolet Express driven by Tim Miller, 55, of Cogan Station, police said.

Miller’s vehicle was pushed into the back of a tractor-trailer driven by Grigoriy Vorobey, of North Tonawanda, New York.

Bryson, Miller and a passenger in his vehicle, Dominick Carnevale, 18, of Williamsport, were treated at the Williamsport Regional Medical Center for minor injuries, state police said.

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