Ammonium nitrate tanker overturns on Maryland Highway forcing businesses to evacuate
Tanker carrying potentially explosive ammonium nitrate overturns on Maryland Highway forcing businesses to evacuate within 1,500 feet
- The accident happened around 6:15 a.m. Monday
- Authorities have asked businesses within 450 meters of the crime scene to evacuate
- The first emergency services are on the scene, but it is unclear whether there are any injuries
An ammonium nitrate tanker overturned on a highway in Maryland, forcing the area to be evacuated.
The truck carrying the potential explosive overturned on Interstate 81 in Hagerstown, about an hour west of Baltimore.
Authorities have asked businesses within a radius of 450 meters to evacuate and the road will remain closed for an extended period of time.
The accident happened around 6:15 a.m. Monday, according to Maryland State Police.
They said on Twitter that the crash happened on the north side of the road at Halfway Boulevard.
An ammonium nitrate tanker overturned on a highway in Maryland, forcing the area to be evacuated
The accident happened around 6:15 a.m. Monday, according to Maryland State Police
The first emergency services are on the scene, but it is unclear whether there are any injuries.
However, footage released by local ABC affiliate WJLA shows the overturned truck on the side of the road with no fire visible.
Police say the road will remain closed for an “extended period of time” and have asked people to avoid the area.
In their latest public update posted at 9 a.m. EST, they added that northbound I-81 has reopened. The road to the south remains closed.
DailyMail.com has contacted the Maryland State Police for more details.
Ammonium nitrate is a chemical used to make fertilizers and explosives. It is also used as a nutrient in the production of antibiotics and yeast.
Earlier this month, a tractor-trailer carrying gasoline flipped on an exit ramp from Interstate 95 in Philadelphia and caught fire, killing the driver and shutting down the main thoroughfare on the East Coast.
Speaking to reporters at the scene of the deadly overpass collapse, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said there was “no doubt” the incident will affect the price of goods by increasing shipping costs.
On average, about 160,000 vehicles a day used the affected portion of the Interstate, he said, about 8 percent of which were commercial trucks, or about 12,800.
Officials have said it could take several months to rebuild the collapsed section of the highway.
The collapse is causing heavy traffic in Philadelphia as the summer travel season begins, upending hundreds of thousands of morning commutes, disrupting countless businesses and forcing trucking companies to seek alternative routes.