Baltimore tanker rollover caught on video

HMN-A horrific scene unfolds as a fuel tanker rolls over and bursts into flames in Baltimore.  The accident occurred early Saturday morning as icy conditions plagued I-95.  According to the Baltimore Sun, two people are dead, and 15 were sent to the hospital in the ensuing 55 vehicle crash. Two people died and 15 were taken to a hospital in a 55-vehicle crash as a tanker fell off an Interstate 95 bridge and exploded in the freezing rain in Baltimore Saturday morning, the Baltimore Fire Department said. More than 40 of those vehicles still were being cleared from the roadway near Caton Avenue at noon Saturday. It was one of more than a dozen crashes around the region as the freezing rain accumulated in ice on the roads, officials said. Another driver died in a crash on I-95 north near Eastern Avenue about 5 a.m., according to the Maryland Transportation Authority Police. A 15-car pileup on the Baltimore beltway at Southeast Freeway, Route 702, closed the inner loop for hours, State Police said. Cellphone video showed the tanker careening down the highway, then striking the jersey wall, rolling off the highway and erupting into a fireball. The Fire Department did not release the names of the people who died. A few other tractor-trailers were also involved in the crash, the fire department said. Nine patients were taken to the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center from the pileup, hospital officials said. Their conditions were not known. It was unclear Saturday morning whether the pileup started before the tanker crash, or happened after the incident. No serious injuries were reported in the crash on the beltway. The cause of both crashes is under investigation. Both highways remained closed for hours, and police did not know when they might reopen. The Maryland Transit Administration shut down the Light Rail due to the weather conditions. Freezing rain began falling in the Baltimore region between 3 and 5 a.m., the National Weather Service said. Accumulation on roads was between 0.1 and 0.2 inches by 8 a.m. With temperatures hovering several degrees below freezing, a steady freezing rain was expected to continue until about noon or 1 p.m Authorities and the weather service were warning people not to drive if at all possible. “If you have any travel plans this morning, I would strongly suggest staying off the roads until this afternoon,” said meteorologist Dan Hofmann. “From what we’re hearing, it’s a mess out there.”

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