SEAFORD – A 66-year-old Seaford woman died in a multi-vehicle, chain-reaction crash Tuesday morning near Seaford.

The crash occurred at about 9:51 a.m. Aug. 27 at Atlanta Road west of Bucks Branch Road.

According to Delaware State Police investigation a Dodge Ram pickup struck the rear of a Chevrolet Traverse, which then struck the rear of Honda CRV, state police spokeswoman Master Cpl. Melissa Jaffe said.

The Traverse and Honda were stopped in the direction of a flagger working in conjunction with a roadside tree maintenance company, state police said.

Investigation determined the Dodge Ram was traveling at full speed when for unknown reason(s) the pickup operator, a 24-year-old Seaford man, did not perceive the stopped vehicles and the pickup rear-ended the Traverse.

The driver of the Traverse, Linda J. Eskridge, was transported to the Nanticoke Memorial Hospital where she was pronounced dead, Cpl. Jaffe said.  She was properly restrained.

The CRV operator, a 29-year-old woman from Seaford, was properly restrained.  She was transported to the Nanticoke Memorial Hospital with non-life threatening injuries.  A one-year-old child was also in the vehicle, properly retrained and uninjured, Cpl. Jaffe said.

The Dodge Ram operator was treated for minor injuries at Nanticoke Memorial Hospital and released. He was not properly restrained, Cpl. Jaffe said. 

Atlanta Road in the area of Bucks Branch Road was closed for approximately three hours while the crash was investigated and cleared.

The crash remains under investigation by the Delaware State Police Collision Reconstruction Unit.