FNN Article with images © Thursday, October 22, 2026. (Click on images to enlarge).
Traffic update – Around 12:45 PM on Thursday, October 22, 20206, PennDOT issued a lane restriction on I-99/Route 15 northbound at mile marker 178 in Richmond Township, Tioga County. The right (driving) lane will be restricted approximately 1 mile south of Exit 179 (Route 660/Canoe Camp/Covington), while crews continue recovery efforts from an earlier vehicle crash.
Drivers should be alert, slow down, expect delays, and drive with caution.
COVINGTON TOWNSHIP, PA – Three separate accidents lead to the death of a Maryland driver in Covington Township (Tioga County, PA) late Wednesday evening, October 21, ,2026. Combined the crashes caused the road closure of northbound lanes of Route 15/I-99 from Blossburg to Mansfield, as the crash occurred near Mile Marker 178, late Wednesday evening, October 21, 2026.
In the beginning Mansfield fire personnel were requested to the scene for traffic control by Pennsylvania State Police as it was reported there was a single vehicle accident around 11:36 PM However, by 11:43 PM additional calls into the 911 Center indicated that there were two vehicles involved, where one car was said to have struck a deer and a second vehicle then struck debris in the roadway, with one possible injury. By 11:48 PM people were reporting three vehicles were now involved with two cars in the roadway and a tractor trailer went through the guide rail and over the embankment. It was also noted that there were multiple injuries.
Blossburg fire and EMS units were next to be dispatched along with Mansfield fire units and ambulance unit to the accident scene, as was an ambulance from Wellsboro, PA.
Fire personnel arrived on scene and requested the highway to be shut down around 11:55 PM as the crash blocked both northbound lanes on Route 15/I-99. Pennsylvania State Police made it on scene by 11:58 PM and the highway was closed down around 11:59 PM.
Northbound traffic was rerouted using Bloss Mountain Road.
Early reports indicated that there were three vehicles involved in this tragic chain reaction accident. Breaking down this crash it seems the incident started with a deer being struck on the highway by a Toyota Prius. That accident was followed by second crash involving another vehicle which came through and struck the Prius involved in the original accident. Tragically the third and fatal crash was caused when a Wegmans tractor trailer driver also struck the Prius. The tractor trailer ended up traveling through the metal guide rail and going over a 100 foot embankment. The driver of the Prius was believed to have been ejected from the vehicle when it was struck by the tractor trailer, according to Pa State Police. (Their investigation report is further down the article).
The Wegmans truck driver refused additional treatment after he was checked over, as he was not injured. The driver of the second vehicle possibly suffered a broken wrist and was transported to UPMC Williamsport Hospital.. The third driver who may have been outside of their vehicle passed away at the scene. The coroner was requested to scene.
The tractor trailer was a Wegmans truck filled with dairy and other grocery items and it ruptured both saddle tanks which leaked fuel after it crashed through the metal guide rail.
A dog was later found at the crash scene in median and a veterinarian Dr. Kreger was contacted about the dog. An individual was sent out to retrieve the dog and check it out. The dog seems to have belonged to the individual who passed away at the scene.
Blossburg units were cleared from the scene by 2:30 AM. Mansfield crews remained on scene with Pennsylvania State Police and the coroner.
By 6:17 AM a towing service and PennDOT personnel arrived at the crash scene. A large section of guide rail was heavily damaged by the tractor trailer and will need to be replaced.
Mansfield fire crews were finally able to return to their station after the scene was turned over to Pennsylvania State Police and PennDOT at 6:32 AM.
UPDATE – PSP Crash Report – On Wednesday, October 21, 2026, at 10:35 PM., PSP Mansfield was dispatched to a vehicle vs deer crash on I-99 at Mile Marker 178.1, Covington Township., Tioga Co. While police were on route, Tioga County 911 reported that there had been a second crash, where Unit #1 from the deer crash was struck by a vehicle. Minutes later, Tioga County 911 related that there was now a Tractor Trailer involved with a fatality.
Upon arrival at the scene, police reported that 59-year-old Michah Roseblum of Towson, Maryland, was the driver of a 2016 Toyota Prius involved in the deer crash. Roseblum was found deceased along the left shoulder of the Northbound lane. His Prius was located approximately 50 yards to the Northeast at its final rest position on the East shoulder with disabling damage to all sides of the vehicle.
The tractor trailer involved in the fatal accident was reported to have struck the car and the driver. The tractor trailer would come to rest off the East side of the roadway down a 100 foot embankment on the vehicle’s left side. The truck driver was 63-year-old Jeffery Russell of Oxford, NY. Russell had only suffered minor injuries and he was released from the scene after being interviewed.
Police noted that this crash occurred as the Prius from the deer crash became disabled in the roadway after striking the deer. A second vehicle operated by Michael Tyree was traveling North on I-99 when he struck the vehicle involved in the deer crash at the 12 O’Clock position. At that time, the Prius from the deer crash was pushed onto the East shoulder of I-99 North,.the other vehicle came to a final rest off the West shoulder against the guide rail, facing South. At that time, the Prius from the original deer accident was then struck by the Tractor Tractor. The impact caused the Prius involved in the deer crash to spin violently in a counterclockwise motion. It is believed at that time, the driver of the car (Mr. Roseblum) who had struck the deer in the original crash, was ejected from the driver’s window and thrown through the air to the West side shoulder. At that time, his head struck the guide rail post causing fatal injuries. The tractor trailer then went through the guide rail on the East shoulder and down an embankment coming to rest on its driver’s side.
This incident was the result of three separate accidents. The first crash was Unit #1 striking the deer. The second crash was when a vehicle operated by Michael Tyree struck the disabled Prius from the deer crash. The third crash and what is believed to be the fatal crash, was when the tractor trailer struck the Roseblum’s Prius that was involved in the deer crash.
All vehicles will be towed from the scene by Bressler’s Towing.
