Soldier, Philadelphia woman injured in crash

A Fort Drum soldier and a Philadelphia woman were flown early Wednesday afternoon to a Syracuse hospital after being critically injured at 11:35 a.m., when their vehicles collided head-on at Route 37 and Military Road in the town of Pamelia.

Jefferson County Sheriff John P. Burns said the collision occurred when a 2002 Saturn driven by Delores Angel, 40, who was eastbound on Military Road, apparently entered the opposite lane.

Both Ms. Angel and the other driver, a soldier in a 1996 Dodge minivan, were trapped in their respective vehicles. Two sets of hydraulic tools were brought to the scene by fire departments.

State police and North Country Life Flight helicopters transported the victims to Upstate Medical University.

The name of the 24-year-old male soldier was not disclosed pending notification of next of kin. A source said he is with an aviation unit that recently returned from deployment in Afghanistan.

Evans Mills, Thousand Island and Guilfoyle ambulances responded, along with fire personnel from Evans Mills, Glen Park and Pamelia. The Fort Drum police accident reconstruction team and state police assisted sheriff's deputies in the investigation.