Dump Truck Crashes Into Zelienople Church, Causes Extensive Damage
ZELIENOPLE (KDKA) - A dump truck crashed into a church Monday morning in Butler County and caused some significant damage.
According to officials at the scene, the truck crashed into the side of the Park United Presbyterian Church at the intersection of Routes 19 and 68 in Zelienople.
The impact knocked a number of bricks off of the facade.
The pastor said he heard the truck hit a utility pole, a parked car and then the church.
A woman across the street watched the accident happen. She said the driver was shaken up, but appeared to be okay.
"He hit the building, then the bricks went flying and I just saw the truck driver jostled around in the truck and then he opened the door and I ran out to make sure he was okay," she said.
An engineer is being called to the scene to inspect the structural integrity of the church. Initially, the truck was not moved for fear of the wall collapsing.
Workers built support units to reinforce the structure before removing truck. Shortly before 2 p.m., crews did move the vehicle.
They did it very slowly with pulleys from an industrial tow truck, because they worried if they did it too quickly, there could have been even more damage or a collapse.
The damage was done near the place where a nursery and congregational pews and the organist usually is. And had Sunday services been going on, things could have been a lot worse.
Officials closed Route 68 for several hours while extracting the truck, but it has since been reopened.
The cause of the crash is unknown.
The accident could have been much worse because the truck hit the part of the building where the organist and nursery are located during Sunday services.
Fortunately, there are no reported injuries.
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