Photos by Dave J Iannone.

A teenage woman was critically injured and eight others less seriously when a tour bus lost control on the Baltimore Washington Parkway near Beltsville this afternoon, crossing a grass median and colliding head-on with a sports car and causing another to crash into the woods.
The Peter Pan Trailways bus was heading southbound approaching Powder Mill Road about 4:45 p.m. when it was involved in an accident with another vehicle. The bus driver lost control of the vehicle, causing it to skid across a wet grass median and head-on into northbound traffic. The sportscar, a Mazda, collided with the bus head-on and the impact wedged the car between the bus and a tree on the right shoulder of the northbound lanes. A second car, attempting to avoid the collision, also lost control and went down a 15-foot embankment, trapping three victims.
The 19-year-old female driver of the sportscar was trapped in her car for about 45 minutes as firefighters removed the roof and sides to extricate her. Rescue squad crews from Laurel Rescue Squad and Berwyn Heights worked to remove the victim. Due to the severity of the entrapment, the trauma "Go-Team" from Prince George's Hospital Center was flown to the scene by a Maryland State Police helicopter. The woman was flown to that hospital listed in critical condition with leg injuries from where the car had been pinned under the bus.
The three passengers in the other car, which initially caught fire, were also seriously injured. Two were flown to the University of Maryland's Shock Trauma Unit in Baltimore by a second helicopter from the Maryland State Police. The third was taken by U.S. Park Police helicopter to Prince George's Hospital Center.
Four of the 18 people on the bus were taken to Laurel Regional Hospital for check-up of minor injuries. All other passengers and driver were not injured, fire officials said. Four of the victims remained hospitalized tonight from the crash.
A team of paramedics and officers from the United States Secret Service were among the first to arrive on the scene after hearing the collision from their nearby training facility. Medical Hospital buses from Andrews Air Force Base and one of Prince George's County Fire/EMS Department's Mass Casualty Units were dispatched to the scene because of the potential large number of victims.
U.S. Park Police and the National Transportation Safety Board were investigating the details surrounding the accident tonight. The northbound lanes of the Baltimore-Washington Parkway were shut down until past midnight.
Units responding:
1645: Squad 49, E31, A496, Medic 3, E35
1459: (Special Call) A498, A789, A199, A489, Squad 14
1651: Metro Support Unit 1 (Mass Casualty), EMS1, Car 630, Helicopter Eagle-1
1655: Medic 8, Helicopter MSP Trooper 8
1659: Andrews AFB enroute with Military Hospital Buses (later placed in service)
1704: Trooper 2 enroute to PG Trauma for Go-Team (Trauma)
Also Responding (may not be complete list): Emergency Operations Deputy, Volunteer Deputy, Chief 31, Division Chief 1, Car 61, Car 66, Car 605, Car 105 (Safety), Battalion 3, A149, A359, PGFTA, Chief 49, A319, Light Unit 19, Numerous Additional Chief and Command Officers.

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