Man killed in crash during Duryea Hillclimb

A Chester County man was killed Saturday while competing in the annual Duryea Hillclimb in Reading, the Berks County coroner’s office said Sunday.

Kihurani Gakuu, 66, of East Caln Township was pronounced dead by Deputy Coroner Jason Kantner at 4 p.m. Saturday. Gakuu died of a head injury, and the death was ruled an accident, the coroner’s office said.  No autopsy is planned.

Rich Rock, the Pennsylvania Hillclimb Association president and Duryea Hillclimb event chairman, had confirmed that a driver hit a tree and was pronounced dead at the scene during the first day of the scheduled two-day event. The accident occurred during single-car time trials near the 11th turn on the Skyline Drive portion of the 2.25-mile course.

“Our club members (and) the hillclimb community mourns the loss,” Rock said Sunday. “We feel deep sympathy to the family members and friends.”

Sunday’s final day of competition was canceled, Rock confirmed.

“We decided that it was in everybody’s best interest to not have an event tomorrow,” Rock told the Reading Eagle on Saturday. “We consulted with our club’s national office, all the way up to the president of the Sports Car Club of America, and we consulted with some top city and community leaders (and) top city officials.”

Hillclimbs have been held on Duryea Drive in Reading annually since 1951. No events were held in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The first death in the event’s history occurred in 1978, when Samson Osborn was killed in an accident on the 11th turn on the Skyline Drive portion of the course. Osborn’s car hit a tree.