Three people died and two others were injured when an SUV struck a deer along the Indiana Toll Road and crashed into an oncoming pickup truck, police said.

Indiana State Police said preliminary findings indicate the SUV was traveling westbound just before 8 p.m. EDT Sunday when it struck a deer, crossed the tollway's center median and collided with an eastbound pickup truck in northern Indiana's St. Joseph County.

Both the SUV's driver and its sole passenger were pronounced dead at the scene, as was the pickup truck's front seat passenger.

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Indiana News

A car crash in Indiana killed three people and injured two others. The crash happened when an SUV struck a deer and veered into an oncoming pickup truck.

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The pickup's driver and a back seat passenger were hospitalized with serious injuries, police said. The crash victims' names have not yet been released.

The crash near the South Bend west plaza prompted an hours-long closure of the tollway's eastbound lanes for the crash investigation and removal of the vehicles. Traffic was moving in both directions again on Monday morning, WSBT-TV reported.

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The toll road runs about 156 miles across the northernmost part of Indiana from its border with Ohio to its border with Illinois.