By Bonnie L. Cook
The Philadelphia Inquirer
LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. — Five people died when three Harley-Davidson motorcycles they were riding were hit by a van on Route 72 in Manheim, Lancaster County, police said.
Penn Township police said the crash occurred at 5 p.m. Sunday when a van driven by Alfred Moore, 64, of Harrisburg, for Harrisburg Taxi, struck the motorcycles, each carrying a driver and passenger.
Police identified the dead as Joshua Pennington, 27, of East Earl; Linda and Samuel Lapp, both 48, of New Holland; and Dennis Wilheim Jr., 43, and Amy Wilheim, 50, both of Lancaster. All died at the crash scene.
The sixth person, Kristen Skowood, 27, was in critical condition at Lancaster General Hospital, police said. The taxi driver was listed in stable condition at the same hospital.
Police said the taxi, empty except for the driver, was headed north in the 1600 block of Route 72, and the Harleys were southbound. The accident occurred in the southbound lanes, but authorities said they could not explain how the van got there.
Authorities would not say whether drugs or alcohol were involved. Some of the motorcyclists were wearing helmets. There was no slick on the straight stretch of road at the time, police said.
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