A tragic accident occurred on a Maryland highway when a vehicle traveling in the wrong direction struck an oncoming car, killing a mother and daughter from Virginia.
According to the Maryland State Police (MSP), around 6:45 p.m. on August 29, a Ford Mustang traveling northbound in the southbound lanes of the I-270 Spur near Bethesda collided head-on with a Toyota Camry traveling in the correct direction.
As a result of the crash, two passengers in the Camry—mother Mussamat Shamima Begum, 46, of Burke, and daughter Areeba Jahin, 23, of Alexandria—were pronounced dead at the scene.
Four people were inside the Camry at the time, including a 62-year-old male driver and an 8-year-old girl. The driver and the child were rushed to a nearby hospital immediately following the crash to receive treatment; the extent of their injuries has not been disclosed.
An investigation identified the wrong-way Mustang driver as Jose Caballero Nolasco, 32, of Germantown, Maryland. Police are investigating under the strong suspicion that Nolasco was driving while impaired by alcohol or drugs.
The at-fault driver, Nolasco, was promptly arrested on charges including two counts of grossly negligent manslaughter, two counts of homicide by motor vehicle while impaired by alcohol, and one count of causing life-threatening injury by motor vehicle. He is currently being held without bond at the Montgomery County Detention Center in Rockville.