A chunk of concrete crashed through the windshield of a car killing the driver and forcing the passenger to grab the wheel.
The accident occurred around 9:30 a.m. in the northbound lanes of the Pennsylvania Turnpike at mile marker 76.7 in Franklin Twp. Carbon County.
The 2000 Mercedes was traveling northbound on I-476 when the concrete went through the windshield of the car and struck the driver in the upper chest.
Forty-eight-year-old Pierre Louverture of Long Pond, Monroe County was killed.
Two other passengers were in the car at the time. Herve Phanord, the front seat passenger, grabbed the steering wheel and safely stopped the car.
Ingrid Duplessis was riding in the back seat. Neither passenger was hurt.
Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission spokesman Carl DeFebo said the concrete did not come from an overpass above the turnpike, and police said its origin remains under investigation.
"There are no overhead bridges involved in this incident," he said.
A deputy coroner said investigators have a theory. A truck which was traveling in front of the car, ran over the loose concrete and it was thrown into the path of the victim's car.
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