Five Injured, Three Critically, in Crash Tuesday Morning in Columbia

A motor-vehicle crash Tuesday morning in east Columbia sent five people to the hospital, three with critical injuries, according to the Howard County Police Department.

The crash happened just before 11 a.m. at the intersection of Snowden River Parkway and April Brook Circle, police said.

A 2003 Mazda Protege 5 was attempting to turn right from April Brook Circle onto Snowden River Parkway when it was struck by a 1998 Dodge Durango that was traveling north on Snowden, police said.

There were five people in the Mazda. Three were critically injured and were taken to the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore: the driver, 37-year-old Claudi Garcia of Columbia;  passenger Marlin Yanira Santos, 28, of Silver Spring; and Claude Gutierrez, 31, of Columbia.

As of 4 p.m., all three of them were listed in critical but stable condition, according to police.

The two other Mazda passengers were taken to in Columbia with minor injuries: Delsi Del Carman Hernandez Alvarez, 29, of Columbia, and Marie Ping Amaya Hernandez, 28, of unknown residence.

The driver of the Dodge, Cristobal Amador Manilla, 17, of Columbia, was not injured in the collision, according to police.

A preliminary investigation found that the driver of the Mazda, Garcia, failed to yield the right-of-way, police said.

The crash remains under investigation.