Ice storm near Washington causes 100s of road crashes, killing 4, injuring many others

An ice storm striking the region around the US capital Washington has caused hundreds of collisions, including a 55-vehicle pile-up in Baltimore and a 23-vehicle crash on a Virginia Beltway, killing at least four, injuring scores more and causing many flight cancellations and power outages across the area.

The most serious accident involving 55 vehicles occurred around 3:30 am Saturday on the Interstate 95 highway in Baltimore after a tanker tractor trailer went off the road and burst into flames.

The deadly crash, in which the tanker fell from a bridge and exploded on CSX Transportation railroad tracks below, killed two people and injured 15 others, the local daily Baltimore Sun reported citing Maryland Transportation Authority Police.

The crash was one of “hundreds of accidents” caused by an icy weather system that grounded hundreds of flights and cut off power to thousands of homes throughout the region.

A second accident on the same highway occurred at about 5 am, killing yet another traveler, while a 15-vehicle pile-up on the Baltimore beltway closed the inner loop of the roadway for hours, the report added, quoting local officials.

In the neighboring state of Virginia, state police officials confirmed that a 23-vehicle accident involving two tractor trailers occurred on the Washington Beltway at 5:12 am, causing the death of at least one traveler and sending four people to local hospitals.

Virginia State Police were also investigating 31 other traffic crashes across the Northern Virginia region, according to local press reports that further pointed to road closures and heavy traffic congestion and delays in the area due to icy road conditions.

In Maryland, meanwhile, reports indicated that multiple accidents on I-95 highway outside of Baltimore have turned the major, multi-lane freeway into a parking lot in both directions.

Pointing to the deadly accidents across the state, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan said, "Our state's entire emergency management, transportation, and law enforcement resources are fully engaged in managing this situation and are working closely with local jurisdictions to provide needed support."

At Baltimore-Washington International (BWI) Airport, nearly 140 flights had been canceled and more than a hundred had been delayed by mid-afternoon, according to flight tracking website FlightAware.com.

This is while Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. reported that nearly 7,000 customers remained without power in central Maryland by mid-day. Spokesman Aaron Koos said utility poles damaged in traffic accidents were the likely factor for many of the outages.

Moreover, Baltimore Police stated that it had responded to more than 200 calls for crashes in the city alone, and state police reported over 330 more accidents across the Maryland state.

Freezing rain began falling in the Washington-Baltimore metropolitan region between 3 am and 5 am, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).

NWS meteorologist Dan Hoffmann said the conditions were the result of a "very cold air mass that was locked over the region" since earlier in the week, adding that such air masses "do not tend to erode very peacefully." 

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