NEW YORK (AP) Rain "flash-freezing" on roads and sidewalks left an icy glaze under feet and tires across much of the northeast on Sunday, causing crashes that claimed at least five lives.

A crash involving 30 to 50 vehicles on Interstate 76 outside Philadelphia killed one person, and two others died in a crash involving multiple vehicles on nearby Interstate 476, police said. In Honesdale a man was killed after his car overturned on an icy road and he was thrown from it and hit by a commercial vehicle. In Connecticut, police cited slippery conditions in a crash that killed an 88-year-old woman who struck a utility pole in New Haven."This is the worst type of winter precipitation to combat, because it can freeze instantly and it doesn't need to be the whole pavement for vehicles crossing it to have problems," Pennsylvania Department of Transportation spokesman Eugene Blaum said.Kaitlyn Maier grew up in upstate New York but said that didn't prepare her for the icy conditions she encountered trying to get from her home in Philadelphia to her niece's baptism."I've driven through snow a lot, and this isn't like anything I've ever driven in," Maier told The Associated Press.She came upon the I-76 wreck moments after it happened and saw a jumbled line of cars extending around the bend ahead of her. "We were stopped for a while on the side of the road. I was going less than 10 mph, but I had no control of my vehicle."Dozens of spinouts and accidents were reported from northern New Jersey to southern New Hampshire on Sunday and treacherous conditions forced the closure of the New York State Thruway from Newburgh to New York City during the morning.The Metropolitan Transportation Authority warned travelers on New York City's Metro-North commuter railroad to beware of ice on staircases, platforms and parking lots. The 9:30 a.m. crash closed the interstate for more than an hour.State police at Blooming Grove said Pablo Pons, 34, was driving east on I-84 near the Milford exit when his car flipped on a curve. He and a passenger were ejected. He was struck by a commercial truck and then a sedan, state police said. Pons was pronounced dead at the scene.A Honesdale man was killed when he was ejected from the car he was driving and struck by two vehicles on an icy Interstate 84 on Sunday in Pike County.A 12-year-old boy who was a passenger in his car was taken to Bon Secours Community Hospital in Port Jervis, New York, to be treated for critical injuries, police said.Tribune Content Agency LLC contributed to this report.