Baltimore Officials: Man Helping Car Accident Victims Dies in Fall from Bridge

A man who stopped to help car accident victims late Sunday in Baltimore City, Maryland, died when he fell from a bridge at the scene.

Crews with Baltimore City Fire Department responded to an accident on the bridge of Interstate 395 southbound and began assisting victims just before 10:00 p.m., WBFF reported.

“While first responders triaged victims of the original accident, a man stopped his vehicle on the highway to offer assistance to one of the vehicles involved,” the outlet said.

That was when another accident occurred involving several vehicles.

Kevin Cartwright, who is the director of communications for the Baltimore City Fire Department, said the man fell over the jersey barrier of the highway. He plunged more than 100 feet into the water below the roadway.

“Unfortunately, that individual expired,” Cartwright told WBAL. “Our special rescue operations, our dive team, were activated,” noting they immediately put boats into the water to locate the man:

“They did locate an unconscious, nonresponsive individual and recovered him from the water. He’s been taken into our possession and being transported to an area hospital,” Cartwright explained, noting officials are still working out details related to the incident.

The Baltimore City Fire Department shared photos Sunday of firefighters at the scene:

Initial speculation was that the individual may have been a first responder. However, Cartwright told WMAR, “We have no reports of an official law enforcement officer falling over the jersey wall and into the water.”

“There was some preliminary speculation, but that appears not to be the case. Exactly who this individual is, we have not verified his identity at this moment,” he added:

Video footage shows emergency crews and their vehicles on the upper part of the interstate and underneath the roadway as officials searched the water, per WJZ:

“Exactly what caused this collision above we don’t know. We’re working in collaboration with the Maryland Department of Transportation authorities in their investigation to determine exactly what happened,” Cartwright told the outlet.