A teenager and a 75-year-old woman have died after a crash that occurred on the Capital Beltway (I-495) on Christmas.
Virginia State Police troopers and the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department were dispatched around 10:39 p.m. yesterday (Thursday) for a crash at the 49-mile marker near the I-66 interchange in Idylwood.
“Witnesses reported a Toyota Sienna minivan located in the southbound Express Lanes with heavy rear-end damage,” state police said this afternoon (Wednesday). “All six occupants in the Sienna were taken to an area hospital.”
Two of the van’s passengers — the 75-year-old woman and a 15-year-old — have since died from their injuries.
Police also located a damaged Dodge Ram pickup truck a short distance away in the main travel lanes of I-495 . Two occupants of the pickup were injured and transported to an area hospital.
A VSP spokesperson says investigators believe the crash might have occurred in the interstate’s general lanes, rather than the Express Lanes, despite the location of the minivan.
“The crash remains under investigation at this time,” the spokesperson said.
Correction: The Virginia State Police reported the location of the Sienna minivan as the “eastbound” Express Lanes. After a perceptive reader pointed out that I-495 is a north-south highway, FFXnow followed up with the police, who confirmed that the minivan was found in the southbound I-495 Express Lanes.
