Oct 1, 2014 2 min read

Drug use and excessive speed are believed to be factors in a two-vehicle accident Tuesday night on Interstate 70 in South Strabane Township that critically injured a Washington woman, state police said.

Police said 48-year-old Sue Irene Weber was headed north on Route 19 shortly before 10 p.m. and merged onto the interstate on the eastbound on-ramp at Murtland Avenue. Her sport-utility vehicle failed to negotiate a right curve on the ramp and traveled across the eastbound lanes of the highway, where it was hit by another SUV. Both vehicles rolled several times and came to rest in the median.

Police said Weber, who was not wearing a seat belt, was flown to UPMC-Presbyterian hospital in Pittsburgh. She was in critical condition Wednesday afternoon.

State police located eight Hispanic people who ran from the second SUV immediately after the crash. Another was detained at the crash scene. The nine – a juvenile, a woman and seven men – are all believed to be in this country illegally, said state Trooper Matthew Jardine.

U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement was contacted. The nine were turned over to ICE, which released them.

An ICE official refused to confirm the nine were in the country illegally, saying only they’ve been released.

Spokesman Khaalid Walls said they “did not fall under the agency’s current enforcement priorities,” which includes “those with criminal convictions, recent border crossers and … those who illegally re-enter the country after deportation.”

The investigation into the accident is continuing.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.