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NTSB investigation into deadly Turnpike crash could take years

MOUNT PLEASANT TOWNSHIP, Pa. — It could be years before the families of those who died in a horrific crash on the Pennsylvania Turnpike one week ago learn what caused it.

RELATED: What we know about Z & D Tour, the company operating bus involved in deadly PA Turnpike crash

Officials with the National Transportation Safety Board said the agency would issue a preliminary report roughly 10 days after the incident, but their final report could take up to two years.

Our partners at TribLive.com report the NTSB only has one laboratory to process evidence from highway, aircraft, marine, pipeline and hazardous materials incidents and crashes. In addition to the Turnpike crash, in the last month, the agency was also investigating incidents in California, Louisiana, Kansas, Alabama, Hawaii and Massachusetts.

Five people, including a child, were killed and about 60 other people were taken to area hospitals after the crash closed all lanes of the Turnpike. NTSB officials said the driver of a tour bus operating out of the New York City area lost control, hit the center barrier, veered back across the highway and went up a steep hill on the side of the road before rolling onto its side. The bus was then hit by a FedEx tractor-trailer before two other semi trucks and a passenger vehicle impacted the crash in a chain reaction.