Multi-Vehicle Crash On Beltway Snarls AM Rush Hour Traffic

BETHESDA, MD — Maryland State Police are investigating a six-vehicle crash involving a tractor-trailer Friday that sent two people to the hospital and snarled morning rush hour traffic on the Beltway.

The crash happened around 7:30 a.m. on I-495 near River Road in Bethesda, authorities said. The collision temporarily shut down both the Inner and Outer Loop of I-495.

"According to a preliminary investigation, a tractor trailer on the Outer Loop of I-495 near River Road reportedly lost an unknown object from its load, which caused a vehicle behind it to lose control, travel through an opening in the jersey wall and onto the Inner Loop of I-495, where it crashed into several other vehicles, one of which caught fire," state police said in a statement.

One woman, who authorities say is in stable condition, was taken to Suburban Hospital in Bethesda. The other woman, also in stable condition, was taken to Inova Fairfax Hospital in Virginia.

Maryland State Police are investigating Friday morning's multi-vehicle collision.