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2 EMS providers, wrong-way driver killed in Va. head-on crash involving ambulance

A Lexus traveling the wrong way on I-464 struck a Midwest Medical ambulance, killing both EMS crew members and the other driver

By Avery Sloan
The Virginian-Pilot

CHESAPEAKE, Va. — All three people involved in a head-on crash very early Sunday morning on Interstate 464 have died, according to Virginia State Police.

Around 2:33 a.m., police were called to a crash on I-464, which involved two vehicles, including a 2024 Ford Econoline ambulance. The ambulance — owned by Midwest Medical of North Carolina — was traveling south on the highway when it was hit head-on near the Military Highway exit by a 2022 Lexus sedan that was traveling north in the southbound lanes, state police said in a news release. The crash caused both vehicles to catch fire.

Both the driver and a passenger in the ambulance died after being taken to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, police said. The passenger, who was in the front seat, was identified as Stephen Michael Anderson, 53, of Trenton, North Carolina. The driver, Skye A. Oraczewski, 22, of Elizabeth City, died late Sunday night.

The driver of the Lexus, Shakena Shamae Taylor-Pannell, 39, of Virginia Beach, died at the scene. Alcohol and speed were being investigated as contributing factors in the crash, police said.

The crash closed the southbound lanes of I-464 for several hours.

No other information was immediately available.

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