Southbound lanes on I-81 remain closed following deadly crash in Hagerstown
BALTIMORE -- Maryland State Police are investigating a crash that left two people dead and three others injured on Friday.
The crash happened in the southbound lanes of I-81 near Hagerstown, Maryland, shortly before 9:40 a.m. according to authorities. It involved two vehicles and four tractor-trailers.
Wesley Merrick, 55, and Alicia Eve Cornell, 46, both of Wellsville, New York, were pronounced dead at the scene of the collision, troopers said. They had been traveling in a Chevrolet Tahoe.
Merrick had been driving the Chevrolet Tahoe while Cornell was sitting on the left side of the backseat, according to authorities.
Two other passengers in the Chevrolet Tahoe were injured during the collision, troopers said.
Carrie Merrick, 49, of New York was transported by Maryland State Police Aviation Command to the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore. She was seated in the front seat of the vehicle, according to authorities.
Kevin Dye, 59, also of New York was transported by ambulance to Meritus Medical Center in Hagerstown. He was sitting in the backseat of the Chevrolet Tahoe, troopers said.
Additionally, a Maryland driver who was behind the wheel of one of the tractor-trailers had to be hospitalized, too, according to authorities.
Investigators believe that the Chevrolet Tahoe struck the rear of a tractor-trailer whose driver had begun to brake due to traffic. This prompted three other tractor-trailers and a pick-up truck to collide with each other, troopers said.
The Maryland State Police Crash Team is investigating the incident.
