Two dead after gas tanker flips and EXPLODES on icy Baltimore highway as polar plunge causes chaos on roads across the country

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A large gas tanker speeding down an icy highway in South Baltimore early Saturday morning skidded off an elevated portion of Interstate 95 and exploded.

The incident occurred just before a 55-car pileup that left two people dead and 15 injured.

The accident took place near the Washington Boulevard exit on I-95 just before 5am, WJZ-TV reported.  

Dramatic footage of the accident was captured on cell phone video and posted to social media by Marvellous Amasiatu. 

The pileup prompted authorities to shut down the highway for hours in order to clear vehicles away.

Baltimore City Fire Chief Roman Clark said two people were killed and at least 15 were injured in the 55-vehicle accident and tanker explosion on Interstate-95. 

Poor visibility and ice made driving hazardous on Interstate 95 in Baltimore on Saturday morning

A gas tanker that was speeding along the highway skidded off the road and onto the shoulder

The tanker than flipped over and off of the elevated portion of the highway before it exploded

The explosion and the ensuing fire resulted in a pileup involving dozens of cars

Authorities clean up the remains of the tanker truck that slid off the interstate and onto the road below

These two cars were involved in the 55-car pileup on I-95 in Baltimore on Saturday

Wrecked vehicles lie next to the divider after a 55-car pileup on I-95 in Baltimore on Saturday

Clark said the tanker careened off the highway, fell over a jersey wall and burst into flames.

Clark said it's too early to say whether the crash was caused by slick roads, although scores of traffic accidents were being reported across the region due to icy roads.

A WJZ-TV reporter posted a video on Twitter showing a long line of trucks waiting to help clear vehicles from the highway. 

I-95 is one of a number of roadways that were affected by the blast of cold air which has caused rain and wet roads to freeze across the US.

The extreme winter weather has triggered airport delays in the nation's capital and major traffic pileups in New Mexico, Virginia, and North Carolina.  

A vehicle involved in a crash sits on the fast lane of Highway Interstate 80 after an accident during a snowfall on Saturday

Vehicles commute under snowfall northbound on the New Jersey Turnpike

'The roads were very icy,' Clark said. 'We have nothing but sheets of ice throughout the city, sidewalks,' he said.

Officials have not released the names of the two people killed in the crash. Clark said it's unclear whether the pileup started before the tanker crash or was caused by the incident.

Earlier Saturday, Bob Maloney of the Baltimore City Office of Emergency Management was quoted by WBAL-TV as saying that at least 30 cars were involved in an accident on northbound I-95.

Baltimore County said on Twitter that between 15 and 20 vehicles were involved in a crash on I-695 near Rosedale. Six people were taken to the hospital.

The National Weather Service has issued a wintry weather advisory for the Baltimore area, meaning that periods of sleet and freezing rain through noon will lead to slippery roads and limited visibility.

Meanwhile, authorities in New Mexico were forced to shut down a stretch of Interstate 40 due to a 40-car pileup that took place just before 11am on Saturday.

The highway was also slippery due to icy conditions, though authorities have not officially confirmed that to be the cause of the accident.

No information about injuries has been released as of this writing.

In Virginia, meanwhile, State Police say 41 traffic crashes were reported in the northern part of the state. It was unclear how many were due to slick roads. One fatality was reported.

Traffic on north bound Interstate 29 at the Frederick Street overpass is backed up due to the inclement weather on Friday, Dec. 16, 2016, in St. Joseph, Missouri 

Authorities in Ohio say a Columbus woman was killed Saturday after her car skidded off a slick road.

Two airports serving the nation's capital are experiencing delays or cancellations Saturday.

Washington Dulles International airport reopened two runways after having to close all runways for more than three hours due to icy weather. Wintry weather forced the airport to halt all flights early Saturday. The airport says two runways reopened for flights as of 10 a.m., but that travels should expect residual cancelations and delays.

A spokesman for the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority says Reagan Washington National Airport is operating normally, but some flights may be delayed or cancelled due to bad weather along the East coast.

A spokesman for Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport says the weather is causing some delays and cancelations but no runways have been closed.

In central North Carolina, light freezing rain has caused scores of traffic accidents, adding to the road mayhem scattered throughout the Eastern U.S.

Police and emergency workers reported more than 100 crashes overnight Saturday in Raleigh and Charlotte as the drizzle combined with temperatures below freezing for approaching 40 hours combined to create dangerous icy patches.

Charlotte police reported two people dead in separate fatal crashes early Saturday, although investigators are still trying to figure out if ice caused the wrecks.

Marcia Curtis holds on tightly to a lamp post as she make her way to the downtown bus station in Colorado Springs, Colorado

Winter has taken the northern United States by storm this weekend – quite literally – with 'life threatening cold' hitting the North Dakota area and snow and ice complicating holiday travel in the Midwest and Northeast.

The arctic air that has chilled large swaths of the northern United States for days will culminate this weekend with dangerous cold in Montana and North Dakota as heavy snow falls in other parts of the country, officials said.

People in North Dakota face 'life threatening cold' and the risk of frostbite with exposure of 10 minutes or less, the National Weather Service (NWS) said in an advisory.