ZoomZoomH

Saturday night (or was it Sunday morning? it was around 2am), while me and my roommate were on our way back from a party, at the Leesburg Pike/Tysons Corner exit on I-495, we saw a horrible crash right on the median of the freeway. An SUV (looks like an Explor(d)er from the rear) and an Acura collided head on and were all mangled up, and fire was burning hard. We couldn't stop and take a look because we're already on our way out of the exit ramp, but there were a lot of other drivers that stopped on the shoulder and came out to check out the accident.

Well, today on NBC4's website, the crash has been reported. God bless the man and his family

here's the link:
Crash Story

flip703

Heard of this just this morning.

Ambient

Any news on the occupants?

ZoomZoomH

according to the news report, both vehicles were driver-only, and the man in the Acura was killed

the woman in the SUV was saved and pulled out of the flame by other drivers though, glad to see there are still good samaritans in our society

anyways, here's the story pulled from NBC4:

Fairfax, Va. -- Police said a man from Falls Church, Va., who was going in the wrong direction, died in a fiery crash on the Beltway Sunday.

Authorities said 20-year-old Michael Chavarria was headed south on Interstate 495 early Sunday morning when his car spun out of control near the Interstate 66 interchange.

Investigators said he apparently became disoriented and continued north in the southbound lanes. Chavarria's car crashed head on into a sport utility vehicle and burst into flames.


Other drivers rescued the driver of the SUV from her burning car. She is in fair condition at Inova Fairfax Hospital.

ZoomZoomH

here's a more in-depth report from Washington Post:

Washington Post Report

A Falls Church man was killed early yesterday when the car he was driving in the wrong direction on Interstate 495 near Tysons Corner crashed head-on into a vehicle driven by an Alexandria woman, Virginia State Police reported. Other motorists rescued the woman from her burning car.

Michael Antonio Chavarria, 20, who lived on Tyler Avenue in the Falls Church area, died after being trapped in his car, which burst into flames upon collision, said Lucy Caldwell, a state police spokeswoman.

She said Patricia Quintez Cuestas, 30, who was pulled from her Nissan Pathfinder as it was engulfed by flames, suffered broken bones and facial injuries and was taken to Inova Fairfax Hospital. She was listed in fair condition yesterday.

Caldwell said police were alerted to the wrong-way driver by a witness who called authorities at 2:26 a.m. and reported that a car heading south in the outer loop near the Interstate 66 junction had struck a guardrail, spun around and, in apparent confusion, proceeded north on I-495 in the southbound lanes.

One of the tires on the car, a 1995 Acura driven by Chavarria, had burst on impact with the guardrail and was shredded down to the rim, Caldwell said. Though effectively driving on only three tires, she said, Chavarria is believed to have sped as fast as 80 mph as he continued driving the wrong way.

Only two minutes after the initial report of a driver striking the guardrail, a second witness notified state police of the collision just north of Route 7.

Caldwell said it appears that both drivers attempted to veer out of the way at the last second but turned the same direction and into each other's paths. Both drivers were alone in their vehicles.

Chavarria's family told police he had attended a party earlier in the evening. Caldwell said police have not determined whether alcohol was a factor.

The outer loop was closed for about three hours after the crash.


© 2002 The Washington Post Company

chiproes

Hank:

That sounds horrible...seeing stuff like that happen can really shake a person up.

I hope that lady is okay.

--Dale