1 dead following chain-reaction crash involving ice cream truck in La Plata

A man is dead Sunday, a day after a multivehicle crash injured five others on Radio Station Road in La Plata, Maryland.

Police said a Honda SUV crossed the centerline and hit an ice cream truck.

The driver of that SUV “actually continued crossing over the double yellow lines and struck a tree,” Diane Richardson, with the Charles County Sheriff’s Office said. “His vehicle caught on fire and there were several bystanders who were able to pull him out of the vehicle.”

There were two motorcycle riders behind the ice cream truck. One was seriously hurt.

“One drivers of the motorcycles was able to lay her motorcycle down and avoid crashing into the ice cream truck and the other vehicle. Unfortunately the driver of the second motorcycle was not able to take action and he struck one of the vehicles,” Richardson said.

“That driver was flown to an area hospital and he was pronounced deceased a short time later.”

Six people were injured in total. Three had to be flown to the hospital.

The crash remains under investigation.

Below is a map of the area where the incident happened:

WTOP’s Nick Iannelli contributed to this report.

Will Vitka

William Vitka is a Digital Writer/Editor for WTOP.com. He's been in the news industry for over a decade. Before joining WTOP, he worked for CBS News, Stuff Magazine, The New York Post and wrote a variety of books—about a dozen of them, with more to come.

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