A sudden 1 1/2-inch snowfall turned I-70 westbound deadly Monday, killing two Frederick County residents and injuring more than a dozen people.Forty cars, seven tractor-trailers and three box trucks collided on I-70 just east of the 36-mile marker west of Myersville, said Lt. Sandy Trumpower of the Mount Aetna fire department.
The pileup was reported at 12:20 p.m., police said. Workers began removing vehicles about 5 p.m., after the Maryland State Police Aviation Division documented the crash scene.
Cpl. James Grinnan of the Maryland State Police said the two people who died were from Frederick County. He could not release their names as their relatives had not been contacted.
By 9:30 p.m., traffic backups continued to extend about 10 miles in both directions of I-70, according to a state press release.
The crash likely was a result of the sudden snowfall, which may have caused a chain reaction, Trumpower said.
By the time emergency officials got to the scene, the westbound highway was blocked off, she said. Tractor-trailers had smashed into each other and three or four cars were under, between and on top of them.
A fourth semi had rolled and buried itself deep into a wooded area, with the cab flipped 180 degrees from the trailer.
Of the dozen people taken to the Waynesboro Hospital in Pennsylvania, nearly half were in serious condition, Trumpower said.
Two of them were in surgery Monday, said Kevin Lewis, director of Washington County Emergency Services. He did not know their conditions.
As investigators with the Maryland State Police Hagerstown barrack and the CRASH Team investigated the crash -- westbound lanes were closed and traffic re-routed to U.S. 40 and U.S. 40A -- another 60 people were bused to the American Red Cross shelter in Hagerstown.
They huddled on cots and in chairs consoling each other and grabbing a snack or two.
Between bites of fried chicken, Evan Betler, 27, of Arlington, Va., said he was heading west on I-70, on his way to go skiing, when he saw that two tractor-trailers ahead of him were at a standstill.
He hit his brakes and his car slid 100 feet, veering left and coming to rest in a stand of trees in the median.
He was all right, he said. But then he saw in the rear view mirror a sport utility vehicle heading toward him. He thought it was going to hit him.
"It went to my left," he said.
Later, he was told one of the men in a car that was in the woods near him had been struck.
The Medical Examiner's transport contractor, Dave Highbarger, said a man was struck in the leg after getting out of his vehicle.
Another group was a church congregation from Northern Virginia.
"Prayer works," Freda Christenson said. "Six cars were in our caravan and no one was hurt."
The congregation's bishop, Craig King, said a semi barricaded a few of the cars in his caravan against harm by landing next to them.
He described the scene as an example of human compassion. The people who weren't injured in the crash helped the injured, he said.
"They were helping people get out of cars on top of cars," he said.
Maryland State Police said the crashes appeared to be concentrated in three areas.
Witnesses described those as being on the right shoulder of the highway and toward the front where the tractor-trailers were.
The third spot was on the left side of the roadway, in the wooded median.
Shre McCain of Pittsburgh ended up there. Her boyfriend veered to the left and landed in the median. "He saw a car coming toward us and said, 'Get out.'" They worked their way through the brush as far as they could to escape the possibility of being struck.
Their pick-up truck was hit from behind, she said.
Her boyfriend, Khalid Goodrich of Pittsburgh, downplayed his reaction.
"My idol is Jack Bauer -- always calm."
Some of the cars at the start of the trail of collisions skidded and drove away. One of the drivers who stopped was Becky Natiello of Bethesda. She said she had to steer through two cars to escape being hit and landed on the right side of the highway near the guard rail.
She called 9-1-1. Behind her, the crash unfolded.
"Cars were just getting hit," she said.
On a side note.... Thank you Doug for dinner... You see knowing that it would take me hours to get home no matter what way I tried to go. I stayed in Frederick for dinner at Outback Steak House There is a story behind this when we heard here at work about the mess on 70 Doug (my boss) reminded me that he owed me a dinner at Outback. So he said "Take the company credit card and go have dinner since you won't be getting home anytime soon." So I did... And you might want to know why he owed me dinner? Well we made a bet early on in 08 that Obama was going to win the democratic nomination for president. Doug said "There is no way he will win." Well we made a bet I said "He IS going to win...." Doug said "I'll buy you dinner at Outback if he does." So last night was the pay off for me... So Thank you for dinner Doug! it was good! And I told you he would win and infact even though I didn't want him too I told you he was going all the way! And here we are today...
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