KALAMAZOO, MI -- Photos of the badly damaged pickup truck and crumbled bikes show the horror of the Kalamazoo County crash that killed five cyclists and badly injured four others on Tuesday, June 7.

This was the pickup truck involved in a collision that killed five bicyclists on Tuesday, June 7.

The photos were taken at the parking lot of the towing company that cleared the scene of the crash.

The bicyclists were in an organized group riding north on North Westnedge Avenue in Cooper Township when they were struck from behind shortly after 6:30 p.m., authorities say.

That stretch of North Westnedge is a rural, two-lane road. The speed limit is 35 mph.

The 50-year-old pickup truck driver is in police custody. There were reports he was driving erratically before the crash.

Authorities have not said whether alcohol was involved or why the driver plowed into the cyclists.

The name of the pickup truck driver has not been released.

This was the pickup truck involved in a collision that killed five bicyclists on Tuesday, June 7.

Four of the cyclists who died have been identified as Suzanne Sippel and Debbie Bradley, both of Augusta; and Tony Nelson and Larry Paulik, both of Kalamazoo.

They were part of the Chain Gang, a group that does weekly bike rides during the summer. Tuesday's ride started from the parking lot on Kalamazoo County Health and Human Services campus on Gull Road and they were headed to Plainwell for a 28-mile round trip, according to an email sent to cyclists.

In 2006, the Chain Gang organized a Kalamazoo County Ride of Silence, one of the most recent Ride of Silence events held in the county. The worldwide event honors fallen cyclists.

One of the bikes managled in a June 7 collision in Kalamazoo County that killed five cyclists and seriously injured four others.

The crash appears to be the worst in memory in terms of cyclists killed in a traffic collision. Spokespeople for the Michigan Department of Transportation, Michigan State Police, League of Michigan Bikers and the Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center at University of North Carolina all said they were unaware of a crash anywhere that killed as many or more bicyclists.

"We've talked to lots of people today and nobody can remember a bigger crash," said Aneta Kiersnowski, LMB communications director.

Julie Mack is a reporter for MLive.com. Email her at jmack1@mlive.com, call her at 269-350-0277 or follow her on Twitter @kzjuliemack.