Eight people were violently killed, and as many as six others hurt, when a car crashed into a crowd of people gathered in the highway to watch a late-night street race in Accokeek.
The incident occurred near 3:40 a.m. on Indian Head Highway (Route 210). The stretch of road near the Charles County line is typically deserted in the middle of the night, and a known location for illegal racing.
According to reports, witnesses said a group of at least 50 people were watching two cars racing when another car, a white Crown Victoria, went crashing into the crowd standing in the 55 mph road.
The driver who struck the crowd was not involved with the racing and did not see the mob of people due to the smoke from squealing tires, police reported.
“It’s probably one of the worst scenes I’ve seen,” Prince George’s County Police Cpl. Clinton Copeland told the Associated Press.
Seven people were killed on the scene. Another person died at the hospital. Police initially said the passenger in the striking vehicle was among those killed, but later said that person was only injured, The Washington Post reports.
Police said a tractor-trailer came down the road shortly after, striking at least one person in the road, but the person was probably already deceased.
On Sunday, Prince George’s County police released the names of six victims killed. They are: Mark Courtney, 33 of Leonardtown, Blaine Briscoe, 49 of La Plata, Daryl Wills, 38 of Clinton, Maycol Lopez, 20 of Gaithersburg, William Gaines, 61 of Nanjemoy, and Ervin Gardner, 39 of Oxon Hill.
No charges were filed and police have not confirmed witness claims that the Crown Victoria did not have its headlights on.
Police are trying to locate those involved in the racing.
See more on this story from the Post here.