Icy roads are being blamed for a car accident that claimed the lives of two children on Lower Harmony Road in Connoquenessing Wednesday morning.

State police said a mother and her two young children were in the car when she lost control of the vehicle and skidded off the road at about 10:30 a.m. The car rolled over and the roof above the second row of seating, where the children were located, struck a tree.

The mother has been identified as 32-year-old Elisabeth McCullough, of Main Street in Harmony, according to state police. She suffered minor injuries in the crash.

State police said the children killed were Liam Bintrim, 3, and Declan McCullough, who would have celebrated his first birthday Friday, the Post-Gazette reports.

Troopers said the children were properly seat-belted and restrained, according to the PG.

The icy road conditions also caused about 50 car accidents around Butler County Wednesday morning. Route 422 West reopened between Route 8 and Route 356 at about 3:30 p.m. after being closed for several hours because of an overturned tractor-trailer, according to PennDOT.

State Route 422 East in Summit Township also is open in both directions between Heist and Carbon Center roads. The highway was closed earlier because of a multi-vehicle crash.

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