Traffic on Baltimore Beltway snarled when tractor-trailer crashes through concrete barrier

The driver of a tractor-trailer heading west on Interstate 695 hit his brakes hard Saturday, to avoid plowing into two colliding cars, and his truck ended up suspended 10 feet above oncoming traffic, police said.

The crash involved two passenger cars and the truck, Maryland State Police Sgt. Arthur Horton said. Four people suffered bumps and bruises, he said, but just one — a passenger in one of the cars — was taken to Sinai Hospital for treatment.

Horton said the accident began at 12:51 p.m. on westbound I-695 near the intersection of I-795. When two cars collided in front of the tractor-trailer, the driver of that truck slammed on his brakes.

“The truck flipped around and skidded across the roadway before going through about 20 feet of Jersey wall,” Horton said, referring to the concrete barriers dividing eastbound from westbound traffic. “The truck is literally hanging 10 feet in the air above the inner loop.”

He said the driver was able to exit the cab of the truck on his own.

Traffic was backed up for 4 miles, Horton said, as traffic was reduced to one lane in either direction as workers attempted to free the trapped truck.