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ANTWERP - A state police panel of accident reconstruction experts will conclude this month its review of the July 19 fiery crash in which six people were killed on Route 11 in the town of Antwerp, the Oneida Troop D spokesman said Tuesday.
The panels report is expected to be released at the end of January, Trooper Jack L. Keller said.
The Jefferson County district attorneys office and the state police Bureau of Criminal Investigation have been awaiting a report from the accident reconstruction unit at Oneida to determine possible charges against the truck driver who caused the crash, James A. Mills Jr., 45, Myerstown, Pa. An investigator attributed Mr. Millss driver inattention as a cause of the tragedy.
Trooper Keller said the Oneida unit completed its investigation, but because of the level of severity in the accident a panel of accident reconstruction experts from around the state convened in Albany to review Oneidas determinations.
The chain-reaction crash occurred shortly after 9 that Thursday morning at a highway repaving project just south of Fox Ranch Road. A line of southbound vehicles was stopped at the site, where Barrett Paving of Watertown, under contract with the state Department of Transportation, was doing the work.
The skidding tractor-trailer driven by Mr. Mills crashed into the rear of a car, setting off a chain reaction that involved a state DOT pickup, a 2004 Toyota RAV4 and two other trucks at the front of the line. Killed were Janet P. Dana, 69; Laurie A. Dana, 42; Caitlyn O. Dana, 14; Lauryn E. Dana, 11; Shannon M. Planty, 14, and Maryann D. Gregory, 59.
The occupant of the DOT truck, Lewis L. Lottie Jr., is recovering from serious injuries he suffered.
Among issues likely reviewed by the Albany panel is whether there were sufficient signs placed by DOT or Barrett Paving to alert motorists that they were approaching a work project.
The signs had been approved by DOT personnel before the crash, and conformed to DOT standards, a state police investigator said in July.