A trucker involved in the Pennsylvania Turnpike accident Thursday in which a Honduran trade attache was killed has been charged with homicide by vehicle.

Sam P. Thompson, 32, who was driving the truck, is a Ghanaian national who is in the United States illegally and had been sought by immigration authorities, state police said.

Nuria Ortiz Miranda, 31, who lived in Washington, D.C., and worked at the Honduran embassy there, was pronounced dead at the scene.

She had been a passenger in the rear seat of a Volkswagen Jetta that was hit from behind by a tractor-trailer, driven by Mr. Thompson, at 5:52 a.m. Thursday on the Pennsylvania Turnpike in Arona, Westmoreland County, near the New Stanton interchange.

Mr. Thompson, of Gaithersburg, Md., was treated and later released from Westmoreland Regional Hospital.

After striking the car, Mr. Thompson traveled up an embankment before he crashed into a tree. The impact of the crash caused the trailer to flip over on to its left side.

The Jetta was pushed almost 250 feet from the point of initial impact. Police said his truck struck the Jetta as its driver was trying to pull over so that another passenger could relieve him at the wheel. The collision occurred before the car was fully off the road, police said.

Julio Anibal Miranda Nigro, 35, of Chile, was driving the Jetta during the crash. He suffered cuts to his face and some neck pain after the impact. He was transported to Mercy Hospital and later released.

A third passenger in the car, Pablo Octavcio Miranda Nigro, 33, of Washington, D.C., also suffered cuts to his face. He was treated at the scene.