Backlick Road Crash Kills Three

Three people were killed in a three-car pile-up on Backlick Road, just north of Fullerton Road, Wednesday evening at rush-hour, according to Fairfax County Fire & Rescue.

"It looks like a man driving a Toyota pickup truck was driving southbound on Backlick Road. He had a passenger in his vehicle. For reasons yet to be determined, he crossed the median into oncoming traffic," said Fairfax County Police spokesperson Tawny Wright. "The pickup truck struck a Jeep Cherokee and an Oldsmobile sedan. It came to rest on the northbound lanes against the guardrail. The two occupants of the pickup truck were pronounced dead at the scene. A woman was driving the Jeep Cherokee and was pronounced dead at the hospital."

The man driving the Oldsmobile was checked out and released on the scene. He did not require medical attention. Crash reconstruction detectives are investigating to see whether speed or alcohol were factors. All the victims were adults and identities are expected to be released soon. 

"All of a sudden we heard a boom," said witness J.T. Smith, a collision estimator for Springmall Auto Body, 7708 Backlick Road. "I work for an auto body shop, so I know what the boom is. Usually we have accidents quite often out here, but I didn't see anyone here. All I saw was a Jeep and an Oldsmobile. As soon as I got halfway there, that's when I saw the overturned vehicle." 

"It almost looked like that vehicle went head-over-heels," Smith said. "I saw a body on the pavement and I hollered back to my guys that we've got an overturned vehicle. I ran to the Jeep, which was the closest vehicle to me, and I see a lady lying in the passenger-side rear seat, and her hands were resting on the passenger-side front seat…."

At that point, Smith called 9-1-1, he said. "One of my co-workers came up behind me and opened the door and that's when we saw what condition she was in." Smith said that a dispatcher asked if he could perform CPR but he relayed that it would not be possible, that the passenger was beyond hope.

Another witness, Iyad Kwaik of Kwaik Auto Body, 7706 Backlick Road, was leaving work when he heard the accident. Kwaik assisted two passengers until police arrived.

"I was coming out of this intersection, making a right, when I heard a big explosion and I looked to the side and I saw this truck flip three or four times and the guy flew out of the vehicle," Kwaik said. 

Kwaik said he would estimate the speed of the vehicle to be going about 50 to 60 miles per hour.

"Every couple of months, an accident happens here, and I've been here about five years, and this is the worst accident I've ever seen," he said. "I couldn't believe it."