A winter storm of snow, freezing rain and bone-chilling temperatures socked the nation’s midsection and East Coast on Saturday, causing hundreds of accidents on icy roads and putting a crimp on Christmas shopping.
At least six deaths were blamed on the slick roads and authorities were investigating a few other traffic fatalities as possibly weather-related. Perhaps the biggest accident happened in Baltimore, when a tanker carrying gasoline skidded off a highway and exploded, authorities said.
Two people died in the 55-vehicle pileup on Interstate 95, Baltimore City Fire Chief Roman Clark said. Hospital officials said nearly two dozen people were treated for injuries including broken bones and head trauma.
Clark said it was too early to determine the cause of the crash.
It was unclear whether the pileup started before the tanker crash or was caused by it. The northbound lanes of I-95 were closed while crews cleaned up the mess.
Winter weather advisories were posted from Denver to Bangor, Maine. Airports reported hundreds of flight delays or cancellations, interstates and toll roads reduced speed limits and authorities urged drivers to use extreme caution.
The nasty weather put a damper on holiday plans for Luke Perez, who was hoping to make it home to Los Angeles on Saturday for a family party. Perez’s flight out of D.C., where he is in graduate school, was canceled, so he said he’s going to try again Sunday or Monday.
“My family has a Christmas party … and I was hoping to make it to that tonight, but that’s not going to happen anymore,” the 23-year-old said.
There were dozens of crashes in Indiana — two of them involving fatalities — due to freezing rain, officials said. It was not immediately clear how many people were killed. The roads were so slick that authorities had to move motorists stranded on an overpass with a ladder.
In Ohio, a Columbus woman died Saturday when her car skidded off a slick road, authorities said. In another accident in Baltimore, six people were taken to the hospital after a crash on I-695 involving 15 to 20 vehicles, Baltimore County tweeted.
