Motorists Stranded for Hours After Fatal 50-Car Car Pile-Up in Pa.

Officials blame major snowstorm for pile-up.

ByABC News
December 8, 2013, 6:08 PM

Dec. 8, 2013 — -- A 50-car pile-up in Pennsylvania today left one driver dead and dozens of motorists stranded on the state turnpike for hours in the middle of a major snowstorm.

State police said late this afternoon that the 50 cars that were involved in the accidents had been pulled over to the shoulder and they estimated plow and salt trucks would be able to clear the area by evening.

According to ABC station WPVI-TV in Philadelphia, the motorist who died in the collisions was killed when he got out of the car and hit by another car.

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The accident, which occurred around 12:30 p.m. near Morgantown, Pa., left motorists stranded on the road for hours as the snow continued to fall.

Bobbi Lupkin, 57 of Mechanicsburg, Penn., was on her way home around noon today when traffic suddenly slowed to a stop, she told ABCNews.com. (Lupkin is mother of ABCNews.com health reporter Sydney Lupkin.)

More than four hours later, she was still sitting in her car with no way to get off the highway.

"The truth of the matter is nobody is doing a thing for us," she said.

A few of those stranded decided to take advantage of the opportunity.

Two brothers -- Josh Lobach, 21, and Andrew Lobach, 22 -- were hand-delivering pizza slices to hungry drivers, charging $5 a slice.

The brothers were returning to college in South Carolina, when they got caught in the traffic jam around 2 p.m. Since they were hungry, the brothers decided to order a pizza and after realizing how many other cars were stranded they ordered a little extra.

The brothers managed to get two pizzas delivered to the nearest overpass.

"It took some convincing," Andrew Lobach, a college sophomore, told ABCNews.com.

When the brothers realized they had extra slices, they figured they could make a little extra money by selling slices to other stranded motorists. The brothers were so successful they ordered four more pizzas.

"We had a lot of thumbs up even when they weren't buying," Andrew Lobach said. The brothers also delivered water bottles to thirsty families for free.

In spite of the weather and traffic jam, Lobach said after nearly five hours of being stuck on the road, most motorists were in good spirits and staying warm by cycling their engines on and off.

Bobbi Lupkin said some drivers were frustrated by the lack of information, but that other families had been making the most of it. Two girls from a nearby car took a break to play in the snow for half an hour.

Lupkin said she finally started to inch forward at around 5:45 p.m. When she passed the accident, she saw dozens of cars facing "every which way."

"If I was 15 minutes earlier, I would have been in the middle of that," she said. "I feel blessed. Sitting for five hours is one thing. To be in that mess ... that's pretty scary. I feel very lucky."

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ABC News' Sydney Lupkin contributed to this report.