Limestone Township man killed in crash

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An area man died Monday morning as he was trying to pass a slow-moving school bus in Bastress Township, state police said.

Driving a 1991 Honda Civic, Nicholas Baker, 21, of Limestone Township was killed while traveling eastbound on Route 654. He reportedly passed the bus at 7:07 a.m. and struck a 2002 Jeep Liberty head-on at the Jacks Hollow Road intersection.

The Jeep was traveling from Jacks Hollow Road and had just turned west onto Route 654 when it collided with Baker's car.

The driver of the Jeep and a front-seat passenger, both 16-year-old Bastress Township girls, were taken to Williamsport Hospital for treatment of minor injuries, police said at the scene. The back-seat passengers in the Jeep, 15- and 14-year-old Bastress Township boys, were not injured.

All four of the Jeep occupants are Jersey Shore Area School District students and were wearing seat belts, police said.

Baker was not wearing a seat belt, police said. He was pronounced dead at the scene by county Coroner Charles E. Kiessling Jr.

Route 654 was closed to traffic for five hours.