Updated Sunday – A serious collision Saturday night on River Road in Bethesda left three members of a local family dead and one in the hospital with serious injuries.
Montgomery County police said four members of the Buarque de Macedo family, who lived in the 7000 block of Loch Lomond Drive, were in a car turning left from eastbound River Road to Pyle Road when the car collided with another vehicle traveling on westbound River Road at about 6:56 p.m.
Photos from the scene showed the Chevrolet Volt that the Buarque de Macedo family was traveling in had ended up off the road.
Three family members died at the scene, including 52-year-old Michael Buarque de Macedo, who police said was driving, 53-year-old Alessandra M. Buarque de Macedo, who was in the rear seat, and 18-year-old Thomas Michael Buarque de Macedo, who was in the front passenger seat.
Helena Buarque de Macedo, who was also in the rear seat, was transported to a local trauma center with life-threatening injuries, police said. Police believe she may be a teenager, but her age has not been confirmed. On Sunday, a relative said she was in stable condition.
Both Thomas Michael and Helena Buarque de Macedo are listed as students at Walt Whitman High School, near where the collision happened.
At 11 p.m. Saturday night, Whitman Principal Alan Goodwin tweeted that a Whitman family was involved in the accident.
A school production of Noises Off was set to start at the school at 7 p.m.
Police said the driver of the 2016 BMW that collided with the family’s car, 20-year-old Ogulcan Atakoglu, was transported to a local hospital with nonlife-threatening injuries.
The accident is still under investigation.
Horrific accident on River Rd in #Bethesda leaves three people dead #breakingnews #mdtraffic pic.twitter.com/EKQxEmmzk1
— Brad Freitas (@NewsChopperBrad) February 28, 2016
