Six people were killed when a passenger vehicle pulled into a work zone along the Baltimore beltway and struck construction workers there, Maryland State Police said Wednesday.
Troopers responded to the work zone on northbound Interstate 695 at Security Boulevard in the Woodlawn area around 12:40 p.m. for a report of a pedestrian crash, police said in a news release. Emergency medical service personnel pronounced six people, all of them workers, dead on the scene, and the driver of the car, an Acura, was taken to the University of Maryland Medical Center’s Shock Trauma Center, police said.
Investigators believe the driver of the Acura was trying to change lanes when she struck the front corner panel on the passenger side of a Volkswagen. The Acura lost control, and pulled between the jersey walls of the work zone and hit multiple workers before overturning, police said.
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The crash closed the beltway in both directions for hours, snarling traffic along the west side of the highway that encircles the city. Baltimore County Fire Department officials called the crash “extremely serious” and asked drivers to avoid the area.
Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski called the incident horrific.
“We offer our sincere condolences to the families, friends, and loved ones of those who have lost their lives in today’s tragic crash,” he wrote in a tweet.
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The cause of the crash remains under investigation.
Police didn’t release the names of those who were killed pending the notification of next of kin.
