About a hundred dead birds block I-95 traffic

237285 Maryland Highway worker cleans up the carcasses of hundreds of dead birds on northbound Interstate 95 in Laurel, Md. (Courtesy WJLA)
Hundreds of dead birds fell from the sky onto northbound Interstate 95 in Laurel, Md. Wednesday afternoon. (Courtesy WJLA)
Traffic was backed up on northbound Interstate 95 due to hundreds of dead birds on the freeway Wednesday afternoon. (WTOP/Sarah Weishampel)
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WASHINGTON – Hundreds of dead birds blocked traffic for hours Wednesday afternoon on Interstate 95 in Laurel.

The heavy congestion clogged the highway back to Route 212, but the real trouble happened just north of the Intercounty Connector near MD-198 (exit 33).

Inspectors from the Maryland Highway State Administration think the birds were killed after flying into huge power lines that cross the highway and are secured by large towers on either side.

WTOP’s Mark Segraves reports it took him 25 minutes to travel only a few miles on I-95.

The Metropolitan Area Transportation Operations Coordination tweeted shortly before 3 p.m., warning drivers to expect delays due to cleanup. The MATOC warned of 3.5-mile delays around the scene.

Twitter was abuzz with frustrated commuters tweeting about the dead birds.

Below is a sampling of tweets:

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(Copyright 2012 by WTOP. All Rights Reserved.)

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