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A huge wind turbine blade crashed onto a busy interstate highway in Maryland, leaving one person hospitalized.
The incident happened early Monday morning along Interstate 70 in Washington County, when a truck hit a guardrail, causing a wind turbine blade to break loose and fall onto the road, said the Maryland State Highway Administration. Wind turbine blades are typically over 170 feet long.
One person was hospitalized from the incident, though their current medical status is unclear.
In a video of the incident, the blade is seen falling off the truck, across the guardrails, and into the adjacent lane just before sunrise.
In a statement to Fox News, the MSHA said: “At approximately 5:30 a.m., a tractor-trailer traveling westbound on I-70 was pulling a wind turbine blade that struck the guardrail, causing the blade to go partially into the eastbound lanes.
"The blade was then clipped by a tractor-trailer traveling eastbound,” it added.
The crash prompted the closure of all westbound lanes of I-70 and I-81, as well as two lanes in the eastbound direction, said the Maryland State Highway Administration on X.
Almost three hours later, crews removed the blade from the road and reopened the lanes.
"Heavy tow crews were able to back the truck up after the guardrail was cut out and get the trailer back onto the westbound lanes. The entire unit was then driven up to I-70 west of Maryland Route 63 and parked on the wide shoulder," a MSHA statement said.
The one injured person was taken from the scene by ambulance to Meritus Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries, reported ABC News.
Total Traffic editor Danielle Deverell expressed shock about the crash on X: “I have worked in traffic for 20+ years... I have seen A LOT of stuff. I have NEVER seen this.”
