Driver killed after crashing into pole near Gateway Center ID'd

PITTSBURGH — Emergency officials said an 80-year-old man was killed after crashing into a pole near downtown Pittsburgh's Gateway Center Friday morning.

According to initial reports, Donald Fox, of Mt. Lebanon, was out of his vehicle and lying in the median when first responders arrived.

Fox was rushed to UPMC Mercy Hospital where he was pronounced dead just after 11 a.m., officials said.

Pittsburgh police and state troopers were at the scene collecting evidence. Officials said the car's transmission was found about a half block away from the accident scene.

Witnesses told police that the van came off of the Parkway exit at a high rate of speed and slammed into an above-ground utility box and light pole on Liberty Avenue. Witnesses said a Port Authority bus unloading passengers nearby was nearly hit before the driver slammed into the pole.

"Right now it's looking like an accident, a horrific accident that occurred. We are in the preliminary stages of the investigation but it's possible this could have started on the highway inbound," Pittsburgh police Cmdr. Eric Holmes said. “According to some of the witnesses I heard talking, the vehicle was traveling at a high rate of speed.”

Investigators believe Fox had some type of medical condition that led to the crash.

People who work in the nearby office buildings said they heard what sounded like a bomb go off when the van hit the pole.

"I started looking down and the guy was laying here in the street. Immediately there was a bunch of people surrounding him," said witness Michael Heike.

The crash remains under investigation.

WPXI