A 5-year-old girl from Washington, D.C., died in a serious crash along I-66 westbound in Haymarket, Virginia, Monday morning.
Four vehicles were involved in the crash just after 9 a.m. as they approached the Route 15 exit in lanes narrowed from four to two due to construction.
Traffic was slowing, and the driver of a Nissan pickup truck failed to break in time and smashed into a smaller Chevrolet Cobalt, Virginia State Police said. Two other vehicles were damaged when the Cobalt was pushed forward.
Nayla Mitchel, the 5-year-old girl in the backseat of the Cobalt, died at the scene, Northern Virginia Bureau Chief Julie Carey reported. Her parents -- 26-year-old Simone Rhodes, who was driving, and 34-year-old Gerald Mitchel -- were flown to Inova Fairfax Hospital for treatment of serious injuries.
The drivers of the other two vehicles that were struck were treated at the scene.
The driver of the truck was taken to a hospital for treatment. He is charged with reckless driving.
Westbound traffic was backed up for hours, with cars stuck between the accident and the Route 29 interchange. For a time, police diverted westbound traffic through the median to the eastbound lanes to backtrack to the exit. The detour on John Marshal Highway clogged Haymarket for much of the day. Westbound I-66 reopened about 1 p.m.
