ELKRIDGE, Md. (WJZ)— Police in Howard County are looking for answers into a deadly accident that shut down a busy road for hours.

Mike Hellgren has the latest on the investigation into a crash that left three people dead.

The accident happened around 6 a.m. in the 7500-block of Route 1 near Meadowridge Road in Elkridge.

Three people died inside the Chevy, leaving a mangled mess after it collided with a tractor trailer on the busy stretch of Route 1. The crash closed the Howard County highway for five hours during the height of the morning rush hour.

“He looked like he was pretty much underneath the tractor trailer and I just saw there was a man’s arm and I just turned my head and walked away because it was pretty upsetting,” Kathleen Haehl, a Howard County resident, said.

Police say the big rig was turning from the northbound lanes. Investigators believe the car heading southbound was speeding and slammed into it.

“It really appears to our investigators that speed was the one and only factor here– that we had a tractor trailer that was making a turn that he had made a 100 times before but this car was coming too fast to be able to stop in time,” Sherry Llewellyn, spokesperson for the Howard County Police Department, said.

People describe a gruesome scene from the impact. Police marked off the pavement as part of the investigation but there are no visible skid marks. Authorities have not said at this point how fast they believe the Chevy was traveling.

“They had to be speeding,” said a witness who asked not to be identified.

The witness said the crash woke her from bed.

Hellgren: “What did it sound like to you?”
Witness: “Like an explosion.”

The truck driver is 58 years old. His company declined comment as police continue their investigation, working to piece together the terrifying final moments for those inside the car.

“I heard their screeching and, boom!” the witness explained. “I just feel a loss for their family.”

The driver of the Chevy was 20-year-old Degly Ubaldo Monroy Melendez. Carlos Osorio, 25, was the front passenger while Oscar Osorio, 31, the brother of Carlos Osorio, was seated in the back. All three were from Hyattsville.