‘Horrific’ I-95 crash kills 4

A fiery crash involving a tanker carrying a flammable liquid that plunged off a highway overpass yesterday on Interstate 95 south of Baltimore killed at least four motorists and was expected to delay traffic at least through this morning’s rush hour.

“It was a horrific scene,” said Chuck Gischlar, a State Highway Administration spokesman. “There was fire everywhere. It was down in the woods, on other vehicles. It was terrible there.”

Just before 3 p.m., the tanker hit a utility pole on an Interstate 895 overpass, then plunged onto I-95, said Cpl. Rob Moroney of the Maryland State Police.

The tanker landed in the northbound lanes, igniting the fire that spread into the southbound lanes and woods of Patapsco State Park.

At least four other vehicles — thought to be two tractor-trailers and two cars — burned down to their frames, officials said.

Cpl. Moroney said one person in a truck that was somehow involved in the accident jumped out and ran away. But he said there were no other details available on the victims.

Dwane Roberts, a Baltimore truck driver, said he saw the tanker flip and crash onto the road below.

“The people in the cars never had a chance,” he said.

A thick cloud of smoke that burned black, then gray, then white could be seen two miles to the east of Baltimore-Washington International Airport, where operations were not affected.

Firefighters from the airport and Howard and Baltimore counties extinguished the fire within an hour by blanketing the crash scene with white foam.

“It’s a good thing that the BWI foam truck was in close proximity to help out,” Mr. Gischlar said. “It could have been even worse.”

The road surface on northbound I-95 was so damaged that officials were uncertain whether the interstate could reopen in time for the morning rush hour. Two southbound lanes were opened at about 7 p.m.

The tanker apparently took out a section of concrete on the I-895 overpass, also known as the Harbor Tunnel Thruway, which could have caused structural damage and delays in its reopening.

About three hours after the crash, investigators finally could start using hydraulic jaws and other equipment to pry apart the tangle of charred vehicles.

The accident occurred about six miles southwest of the city of Baltimore, near the border of Baltimore and Howard counties.

Col. Thomas Hutchins, acting Maryland State Police superintendent, said investigators expect more fatalities based on the number of vehicles involved in the crash and the magnitude of the destruction.

Col. Hutchins said the fire burned much of the “soft metal” on the vehicles, but investigators hoped to get vehicle-identification numbers from the remaining steel to identify the tractor-trailers and cars.

“It’s a mangled mess that’s been consumed by fire,” he said.

Col. Hutchins visited the scene with Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. , who described what he saw as “grisly.”

Gary McLhinney, chief of the Maryland Transportation Authority police, said that it appeared that nothing forced the tanker off the road and that the tanker did not appear to have swerved to have avoid debris or another vehicle on the overpass.

Wendy Adams, who lives in a Baltimore County neighborhood near I-95, said she was sleeping when she heard a loud “pop.”

“I looked out the window and saw the first bit of fire and explosions for what seemed like 15 minutes,” she said. “I watched the fire move up the road. It was a pretty amazing thing. I checked myself several times to see if I was awake. The smoke was so thick, there was no sky.”

Hazardous-materials crews were on the scene, Mr. Gischlar said, but investigators said they did not know what was inside the tanker.

The National Transportation Safety Board sent seven investigators to the scene last night, said agency spokesman Ted Lopatkiewicz.

“It’s almost like looking at a junkyard, with parts of vehicles piled on top of each other,” said William Mould, a Howard County fire department spokesman. “With the foam piled on top of that, it’s going to take a bit of time.”

• This article is based in part on wire service reports.