Former Slippery Rock resident Bryant L. Atwell Jr., 31, was one of two people who died Thursday in a three-vehicle accident involving a school van in Cranberry Township, Venango County, state police said. Atwell, a Kennerdell resident, was the passenger in a 2001 Toyota RAV4 driven by his cousin, Michael Falla, 23, of Dover, Del., who also died in the crash, which occurred just before 7 a.m. in the 600 block of Route 157, police said. Both men were pronounced dead at the scene.

A 2015 Chevrolet Traverse school van, driven by Julie Sollinger, 55, of Cranberry Township, Venango County, and carrying a 17-year-old female student from the Cranberry Area School District, was stopped in the eastbound lane waiting for oncoming traffic to clear before turning left into a driveway, according to police. Police said Falla didn’t observe the van and swerved left to avoid it. His car hit the rear of the van and spun clockwise into the westbound lane directly into the path of a 2013 Subaru Outback driven by Christina Cohlhepp, 39, of Tionesta, police said.

Cohlhepp’s vehicle hit the driver’s side of the Toyota and ended up in a ditch along the side of the road, police said.

The van driver and passenger were not injured, and Cohlhepp was treated for minor injuries at UPMC Northwest, police said.

Venango County Coroner Christina Rugh pronounced Atwell, a Slippery Rock High School alumnus, and Falla dead at 8:05 a.m., police said. Atwell was not wearing a seatbelt; the other vehicle occupants were, according to police reports.

All three vehicles were disabled and towed from the scene.