WYE MILLS, MARYLAND (4/21/2015) A Delaware woman died this morning in a fiery crash involving three tractor-trailers that also killed two drivers.
Danielle Mumford, 24, of Delmar, was a passenger in one of the rigs involved in the crash just before 7 a.m. on Route 404 east of Wye Mills.
The accident was near the intersection with Fox Meadow Road and Church Lane in Talbot County, between Wye Mills and Queen Anne.
Police said the driver of a westbound tractor-trailer driven by Brian Hutcheson, 38, of Ramer, Tennessee, crossed the double yellow lines on the two-lane road for unknown reasons, sideswiping an eastbound tractor-trailer.
Hutcheson’s tractor-trailer then continued into the eastbound lanes and struck another tractor-trailer head-on. Both of those vehicles came to a stop on the eastbound side of the road, and the eastbound truck burst into flames and became fully engulfed, Sgt. Marc Black said. The truck was reportedly carrying lumber.
The driver of the burning rig, Terry Coward, 52, of Culpepper, Virginia, and Mumford, his passenger, as well as Hutcheson all were trapped in their vehicles.
All three were pronounced dead at the scene. A pet dog traveling with Coward and Mumford also died in the crash.
The driver of the other eastbound tractor-trailer is identified as Michael Shovan, 52, of Waynesboro, Pennsylvania. He was not injured.
Environmental crews were called in to deal with diesel fuel that spilled, and K-9 teams and a state police helicopter searched the area for any additional victims.
Route 404 remained closed from U.S. 50 to Church Lane until late afternoon.
Route 404 – also known as Queen Anne Highway – is a major link between southern Delaware and the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.
The cause of the crash remains under investigation and Black asked anyone who may have witnessed it to contact Trooper First Class Gore at the Easton barracks at 410-819-4753.
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