BRANDYWINE --- Maryland State Police are continuing their investigation into one of the most gruesome wrecks to take place on Southern Maryland commuter routes in recent years when the lives of three area residents ended in a multi-vehicle crash.

State Police spokesman Rob Moroney told ST. MARY’S TODAY on Thursday evening that the three deceased were burned beyond recognition and that the process of identification would likely be extended for perhaps two more days as family members assist police by providing medical records.

The crash on Rt. 301 took place just north of the Charles County line in Prince George’s County when a Waldorf woman, Margaret Bella Eyombo, 53, driving a 1997 Ford Paramount Taxi, tried to avoid a disabled Ford Escort stopped in the fast lane of the northbound side of the Rt. 5/ Rt. 301 highway.

The taxi swerved into the median and crossed into the southbound lanes of Rt. 301 where it collided with a 1996 Peterbilt dump truck.

The dump truck then careened across the median strip into the northbound lanes where it collided head on with a GMC catering truck, causing the GMC truck to be rear-ended by a 1996 Chevy operated by James Alfred Long, 54, of Hughesville.

The dump truck then went on to hit a Buick head on with the engine compartment and the cab of the big truck coming to rest on top of the Buick and all of the vehicles pouring flammable liquids which then caught fire and turned the wreckage in a searing firestorm.

The firefighters were able to rescue Long and Eyombo and turn them over to the Maryland State Police Med-Evac helicopter to fly them from the scene to a shock trauma unit but no rescue attempt of the other vehicles could be undertaken until the fire was extinguished.

The State Police are investigating the crash and refering the results to the Prince George’s County States Attorney for review before charges are placed.