Pickup and Tour Bus Collide; One Killed

A 45-year-old Silver Spring man died Thursday night and seven people were injured after a pickup truck collided with a tour bus in Laurel.

Officials say the accident happened at Route 198 and the Amish Market Center traffic signal near 197.

Police say Michael Eric Palomo was driving his pickup westbound on 198. The Garden Tour Bus with 58 passengers on board was headed eastbound and was making a left turn into the plaza when the vehicles collided.

Rescuers had to cut Palomo out of his truck and he later died at the hospital. Seven people on the tour bus, which was headed from Washington, D.C., to Niagara Falls, were taken to Laurel Regional Hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

Laurel Mayor Craig A. Moe was at the scene. He says there have been at least two other fatal accidents at the same intersection in the last three years.

“It’s definitely a trouble spot,” Moe said in a news release. ” We will have to take a closer look at it to see if more can be done to keep motorists and pedestrians safe here.”

Council President Ed Ricks was one of the first on the scene.

“It was horrific. Lots of chaos. We have to make this intersection safer to prevent this from happening again,” Ricks said.

Laurel Police Chief Richard McLaughlin is urging anyone who witnessed the accident to call police.

“There are traffic signals here—a flashing arrow one way, a green or yellow light the other way ,” McLaughlin says. “ We need to determine who had the right of way.”

Police say Palomo was single and did not have children. His mother was notified of his death.

Anyone with information is asked to call Sgt. Charles Boswell at 301-498-0092.