Esteban Parra

The News Journal

Nine people were hospitalized, two with critical injuries, following an early Monday crash involving three vehicles leaving the Firefly Music Festival.

The crash, on northbound Del. 1 south of Pine Tree Road, was the second serious accident involving people attending Firefly, a four-day Dover music fest now in its fifth year.

On Saturday, Hunter B. Watson, 20, of McLean, Virginia, died after the passenger side of a 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee in which he was traveling was struck by a pickup truck north of Dover. Watson, and the Jeep's driver, 20-year-old Rod Zarafshar, also of McLean, Virginia, were in Delaware for Firefly, state police said.

Monday's crash occurred about 1:15 a.m. on northbound Del. 1 south of Pine Tree Road, said to Sgt. Richard Bratz, a state police spokesman. Drivers and passengers of all three vehicles were leaving Firefly, which wrapped up late Sunday into early Monday morning.

According to the police's preliminary report a Ford Raptor, out of Millheim, Pennsylvania, was on the right shoulder of the road when a Honda Odyssey, from Ambler, Pennsylvania, drifted onto the shoulder, striking struck the rear of the Raptor.

A Kia Sportage, from Port Jeff Station, New York, had been traveling behind the Odyssey and ended up striking the Odyssey, Bratz said.

Odyssey driver, 18-year-old Shayna Chernak of Ambler, Pennsylvania, was cited for careless driving, police said.

The roadway was closed for more than an hour because of multiple patients, rescue helicopters and multiple emergency crews, Bratz said.

State police reported seven patients being taken to various medical centers, while paramedics said nine people were taken to emergency centers.

Cpl. David J. McKinney Jr., a New Castle County paramedics spokesman, said arriving paramedics found a multivehicle crash involving entrapment and 10 people causing a Mass Casualty Incident plan to be activated. Two patients were treated for critical injuries, two other patients were treated for serious injuries, while five patients were treated for non-life-threatening injuries, McKinney said.

One patient refused hospitalization.

Patients with the most serious injuries were taken to Christiana Hospital near Christiana, while those with less serious injuries were transported to Christiana Care Middletown Emergency Department, he added.

Paramedics were assisted on scene by Kent County Paramedics, Delaware State Police, Townsend Fire Company, American Legion Ambulance of Smyrna, Volunteer Hose Company, Odessa Fire Company, Port Penn Fire Company and the Delaware City Fire Company.

State police are investigating the crash.

Contact Esteban Parra at (302) 324-2299, eparra@delawareonline.com or Twitter @eparra3.

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