What caused Sunday's two-vehicle wreck in Leacock Township that killed two people and injured five others?

Was it the dangerous stretch of Route 340 where it occurred?

Did the thunderstorm play a role?

Were drivers speeding or driving recklessly?

While the Amish community attends a viewing today and gets ready to bury two teen-aged brothers Wednesday, police are saying little about possible causes.

The owner of a business near where the accident took place, however, says road conditions likely played a major role in Sunday's accident.

"I've been here 35 years and know of at least 25 accidents there," said Brian Huegel, owner of the Country Knives store at 4134 Old Philadelphia Pike, Intercourse. "The store sign has been hit twice and a neighbor's telephone pole was struck.

"There was a major accident last year where a tractor-trailer lost control, did a double-S, flipped over and hit a car, sending people to the hospital," Huegel said.

State Police Trooper Kelly Osborne-Filson said today no official cause of the crash will be given until a report is completed by the accident reconstructionist and delivered to the district attorney, likely in a few weeks.

Weather conditions and the condition of the road will be among the factors considered in the ongoing investigation, she said.

"That area of the roadway, it is curved, a moderate curve, and the road is also wet — weather conditions probably contributed to (the wreck), as did the curve of the roadway," Osborne-Filson said.

Also, it is possible a driver may have been going too fast considering the road's conditions, she said, declining to elaborate.

The accident Sunday occurred at 7 p.m. in the area of 4138 Old Philadelphia Pike, east of New Holland Road, according to police.

Mahlon Lapp, 18, was pronounced dead at the scene by a Lancaster County deputy coroner. His brother Mervin Lapp, 19, was pronounced dead on the way to Lancaster General Hospital via EMS ambulance. Both had lived at 313 Wolf Rock Road, Paradise.

Stephen Beiler Jr., 20, and Amos Beiler, 20, were flown to Reading Hospital for treatment. A hospital spokeswoman said they remained in critical condition this morning.

Raymond Stoltzfus, 20, was in critical condition, Miriam Lantz, 19, was in serious condition, and Stephen Lee Beiler, 19, was in fair condition at LGH this morning, a hospital spokesman said this morning.

While addresses were not available for the injured, all are from Lancaster County, investigators said.

Stephen Lee Beiler was driving one of the two crew cab pick-up trucks in the accident. His passengers were Stephen Beiler Jr., Mervin Lapp, Mahlon Lapp and Lantz, according to a police report.

Amos Beiler was driving the other truck, and Stoltzfus was his passenger.

Stephen Lee Beiler was traveling east on Route 340 when he lost control and traveled into the westbound lane, into the path of the other truck, the police report says.

The front end of Amos Beiler's truck struck the passenger side of Stephen Lee Beiler's truck. The impact caused both cars to rest in the westbound berm of Route 340, according to the report.

Route 340 was wet due to the rain Sunday evening, but it was not raining when the accident occurred, the report says.

Osborne-Filson said it is too early to tell if police will file any charges related to the wreck.

Huegel, 47, did not see the accident, but inspection of the scene afterward makes him believe the accident was "typical" of many others that have occurred there.

He said he did not know if driver speed played a role, but the features of the road almost certainly contributed.

The road slowly tapers uphill to the east from New Holland Road, Huegel said. As it makes a subtle, perhaps 5-degree curve in front of the store, the road flattens out and the crown of the road disappears.

Water runoff in the area is poor, he said, so vehicles sometimes hydroplane there and drivers lose control.

Almost all of the accidents at the spot involve vehicles going east, according to Huegel.

He said you don't have to be speeding at the spot to lose control of your vehicle.

"Just driving normally, it gets a little slick," Huegel said.

He said the road was repaved perhaps 20 years ago but it did not correct the problem.

Repaving, however, could be the answer to fixing the dangerous area of roadway, he said.


Staff writer Ryan Robinson can be reached at rrobinson@LNPnews.com or 481-6032.