D.C. officials responded to a string of Christmas morning accidents along a stretch of Interstate 295.
D.C. Fire and EMS and the D.C. Department of Transportation told WTOP that four separate car crashes happened between 11:40 p.m. on Christmas Eve and 1 a.m. on Christmas Day.
The first two minor crashes happened in the northbound lanes at 11:40 p.m., according to officials.
At around midnight, as DDOT was on the scene clearing those crashes, another collision happened, flipping a vehicle in the southbound lanes upside down and pinning a man underneath the car.
Traffic was snarled waiting for EMTs to free the trapped driver when first responders reported a fourth crash along the same stretch of I-295 between Eastern Avenue and Burroughs Avenue Northeast.
Officials said a man driving the car that overturned had to be removed using extraction equipment and was taken to a hospital with serious injuries. No one else was in the car with him and no other serious injuries were reported.
DDOT said that all lanes were cleared just after 1 a.m.
DC Fire and EMS officials responded to more than 570 calls between Dec. 24 and Dec. 25, according to a social media post from the department. One hundred and forty-three were critical EMS calls, while just over 300 were non-critical. Nearly 130 were classified as fire-related incidents, or other emergencies, according to the department.
