A Silver Spring teen died after a crash involving five cars on Connecticut Avenue on Wednesday morning, according to police.
The crash, which occurred at 7:46 a.m., left five others injured and resulted in police blocking most, then all, lanes of the busy road for a half-mile stretch between Independence Street and Dean Road in Wheaton. The road opened again at about 1 p.m.
Yonatan Tedros, 18, of the 2800 block of Harris Drive in Silver Spring, died after he was taken to a local hospital, according to police.
A juvenile passenger in his car was taken to a hospital with injuries that were not considered life threatening.
Wednesday morning, Tedros was driving his 2016 Honda Civic north on Connecticut Avenue, approaching Dean Road, according to a Montgomery County police press release. A 2009 Nissan Altima was attempting to make a right turn from Dean Road onto northbound Connecticut Avenue when the two cars crashed.
After the crash, the Civic crossed the median strip on Connecticut Avenue and struck a 2004 Mazda3 that was attempting to turn left onto Dean Road from Connecticut.
This impact caused the Mazda3 to be pushed into the car stopped behind it, a 2006 Nissan Murano.
After that, the Murano was struck by a 2012 Toyota Venza traveling south on Connecticut approaching Dean Road.
The driver of the Altima, Stephanie Danielle De Witt, 30, of Bowie; the driver of the Mazda3, Sakinatu Marie Seisay, 22, of Olney; a passenger in the Mazda3 who police did not identify; and the driver of the Venza, Ana Lorena Arevalo Orellana, 41, of the 14000 block of Whispering Pines Court in Silver Spring, were taken to a hospital with injuries that were not life threatening, according to police.
The driver of the Murano—Analis Cepeda, 33, also of the 14000 block of Whispering Pines Court in Silver Spring—was not injured.
Detectives are trying to figure out how the Civic and the Altima initially crashed.
Police have asked anyone with information to call 240-773-6620.