WASHINGTON — The woman who was struck and killed on the Beltway near Alexandria, Virginia, Monday was walking down the left center lane of the interstate after an earlier crash when she was hit by another car, authorities said Thursday.
23-year-old Cierra M. Bijou, of Accokeek, Maryland, was walking on Interstate 495 around 5 a.m. when she was struck by a westbound 2008 Chevrolet Malibu that was unable to avoid striking her, Virginia State Police said in a news release Thursday.
The driver, a 33-year-old man from Waldorf, Maryland, was not injured, police said.
Bijou died at the scene, police said.
Before she was fatally struck, Bijou had been involved in an earlier crash, police said. The first crash occurred when her 2013 Nissan Maxima, which was traveling in a westbound lane, suddenly stopped and was struck from behind by a Chevy Silverado pickup truck. The impact of the crash caused the Maxima to run off the left side of the interstate and strike a concrete barrier before it came to a stop on the left shoulder.
The driver of the Silverado, a 49-year-old man from Frederick, Maryland, was not injured.
Police said they still don’t know why Bijou’s vehicle was stopped in the travel lane in the earlier crash. It’s unclear if she suffered any injuries in the earlier crash.
The crash investigation Monday closed the Inner Loop of the Beltway, stranding some motorists for hours.
Last weekend, a local football coach was fatally struck by a box truck after getting out his vehicle near the portion of the Beltway known as the “mixing bowl.”
