Six homes evacuated after gas line punctured

Six homes were evacuated in West Annapolis at 10 a.m. yesterday after a city work crew digging a water main trench accidentally punctured a gas line, an Annapolis Fire Department spokesman said.

The crew struck the line with a backhoe outside a home in the 200 block of Wardour Drive, said Capt. Leonard Clark of the Annapolis Fire Department. Shortly after 11 a.m., a Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. crew shut off the gas to the residence, a BGE spokeswoman said.

The 15 people evacuated returned to their homes at 11: 45 a.m.

Truck jackknifes on I-97, causing six-mile backup

A Rim Transportation truck jackknifed on southbound Interstate 97 yesterday, spilling gasoline and backing up traffic for six miles. No one was injured in the accident, a state trooper said.

The driver, Raghbir Singh Thiara, 33, of Ontario, Canada, hit a guardrail and lost control of the truck at 12: 45 p.m. about 500 yards before the Route 50 exit, said Trooper Mark Dillon. No other vehicles were involved.

The truck had delivered a load of furniture and was headed to Canada, Dillon said.

Man dies when motorcycle slides, strikes guardrail

A Pasadena man died Saturday night from injuries he suffered in a motorcycle accident in the Brooklyn area.

Edward Francis Chalk, 44, lost control of his motorcycle at 7: 30 p.m. Saturday when he exited southbound Ritchie Highway to westbound Interstate 695, Anne Arundel police said. His motorcycle slid across the pavement and struck a guardrail. He was wearing a helmet.

Chalk had opened a business, Beltway Cycle, two weeks ago. "He loved motorcycles and had a lot of them," said his mother, Betty Lou Chalk of Linthicum.

Pub Date: 6/29/99