All northbound lanes of Interstate 270 were shutdown before Route 80 for hours in Frederick County, Maryland, Thursday evening after a tractor trailer overturned in a crash involving a state trooper and multiple cars.
There were massive backups on both sides of I-270 after the crash that happened just after 3 p.m. Traffic was diverted onto Rt. 121. State police said strong storms moving through the area further delayed efforts to clear the scene.
Shortly before 9 p.m., the crash was cleared and all lanes were back open, WTOP reported.
Maryland State Police said the trooper was on the shoulder investigating a previous crash when a Maryland State Highway Administration truck stopped behind the trooper to help.
The tractor trailer driven by 35-year-old Ihab Oraha, of Michigan, veered onto the shoulder in an effort to stop for slowing traffic, state police said. The tractor trailer then collided into the back of the MDSHA truck as it overturned and forced the truck forward about 20 feet into the back of the trooper's SUV. The chain reaction crash forced the trooper's SUV forward into a Nissan and the Nissan hit a Mazda Protege, state police said.
The tractor trailer then crashed into a Ford passenger car and another Nissan car as it crossed both of the northbound lanes.
The trooper, Oraha, and three others were taken to a hospital with non-life threatening injuries police said. The trooper has been released from the hospital.
