An SUV crashed into two other vehicles Thursday morning in Western Howard County, killing one person and sending at least four more to hospitals, police said.

The head-on collision also shut down a section of Maryland Route 97 in both directions for roughly five hours Thursday morning, Howard County Police said in a news release.

Officers responded just after 5 a.m. to the crash on Route 97 near Roxbury Road in Glenwood, where investigators believe that a northbound 2004 Honda Pilot crossed the road’s center line and struck two vehicles that were traveling south.

A rear passenger of the Honda, a man whom police did not identify, was ejected from the SUV and died at the scene. A front passenger was taken to Shock Trauma with life-threatening injuries, police said. The driver was also hospitalized, and a police spokesperson said they were in stable condition.

The driver and passenger of the first vehicle struck, a 2018 Chevrolet Silverado, were hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries, according to police. A driver and passenger from the second vehicle, and a second rear passenger from the Honda, did not have serious injuries and were not hospitalized.

Police said they are investigating the cause of the crash.

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