Van driver seriously injured in Arnold accident
The driver of a bus was seriously injured Wednesday morning in Arnold when a tree fell on the vehicle, the Anne Arundel County Fire Department said. (Courtesy Photo)
Lauren Loricchio lloricchio@capgaznews.com
Driver trapped, seriously injured in Arnold accident
The driver of a passenger van sustained critical injuries Wednesday morning when a tree fell on the vehicle in Arnold, an Anne Arundel County Fire Department spokesman said.
Firefighters were dispatched to the area of Ritchie Highway South and Chautagua Road at 7:16 a.m.
The driver, a 57-year-old man, was trapped by the tree. It took firefighters about 30 minutes to pull him from the van, said county fire department spokesman Capt. Russ Davies.
He was flown to the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore to be treated for injuries, Davies said.
Two other passengers were taken to the Anne Arundel Medical Center for minor injuries.
Ritchie Highway southbound at Route 50 was shut down for about two hours, police said.
Witnesses reported the white passenger van was traveling south on Ritchie Highway when a tree fell in the roadway and struck the front windshield of the van, police said.
Police said the falling tree likely could not have been avoided by the van. Personnel from the Maryland State Highway Administration responded to remove the tree and determine whether others nearby are unstable and will need to be removed, police said.
Davies said he was unsure how many people were in the van, which police said is owned by Province Center Inc. No other vehicles were involved in the accident.
No additional information was immediately available.