A wrong-way driver on Interstate 66 caused a crash Monday morning that killed two women and injured three other people, police said.
Two cars collided on the highway shortly after 2 a.m. Monday near the Washington Boulevard overpass in Arlington.
A 1997 Mitsubishi Eclipse was traveling westbound in the eastbound lanes of I-66 when it crashed head-on into a 2003 Toyota Corolla, police said. The Eclipse apparently entered I-66 using the Glebe Road-Fairfax Drive exit ramp and traveled about a half-mile before the crash.
The 35-year-old male driver, Hieu T. Nguyen, of Falls Church, and two female passengers in the Corolla were transported to Fairfax Inova Hospital. The man's injuries are not life-threatening, police said. The two women, both of D.C., were later pronounced dead. One of the women was identified as 38-year-old Tu Nhi This Nguyen. The other decedent, a 35-year-old woman, remains unidentified.
The driver and passenger in the Eclipse -- both 17-year-old boys from Fairfax County -- were also taken area hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries.
Alcohol is believed to be a factor in the crash. The incident remains under investigation, and charges are pending against the 17-year-old driver of the Mitsubishi.
The roadway was cleared before the morning rush.
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All eastbound lanes of I-66 were open to traffic by 4:50 a.m.
