Maryland car wreck leaves five dead, three hurt

A two-car crash left five people, including two children, dead and two others seriously injured in a Maryland suburb, police said.

Occupants of both cars were killed after a Mercedes slammed into an Acura that was stopped at a red light about 9:40 p.m. Friday on a road in Oxon Hill, a suburb of Washington with a population of 17,000, according to the Prince George’s County Police Department.

It was not clear why the Mercedes failed to stop, but police said speed and the weather may have been factors in the crash.

Cpl. Maria McKinney, public information officer for the county Police Department, told the Los Angeles Times that roads in the area had been dampened by recent rainstorms. She would not say whether alcohol had been ruled out as a possible factor in the crash, citing the ongoing investigation.

Two women and two children riding in the Acura died as a result of the crash, and the driver remains in guarded condition at an area hospital. A female passenger in the Mercedes also was killed.

The driver of the Mercedes remains in critical condition, and another passenger in the car suffered non-life-threatening injuries, according to the police statement.

As of 7 p.m. Saturday, the conditions of the surviving victims had not improved, according to McKinney.

The victims’ identities are being withheld until police can contact their families. McKinney declined to say how old the children were or describe the relationship among the victims.

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