RANSON – A car crash on W.Va. 9 claimed four lives in Ranson Saturday.

The occurred between the Currie Road exit and Oaklee Drive interchange around 11 a.m., according to Ranson Police Chief William Roper.

“It was a tragedy, one of the worst tragedies in Jefferson County in some time,” Roper said.

The accident occurred when one car crossed the median and struck the other. Both cars had a driver and a passenger, and W.Va. 9 was closed for about four and a half hours.

Three people involved in the accident were pronounced dead at the scene, and the fourth was transported to Jefferson Memorial Hospital and then flown to the Inova Regional Trauma Center at Inova Fairfax Hospital (Va.), where the victim later died.

“We’re not sure why the vehicle crossed the median, but accident reconstruction is recreating the scene to find out why it happened,” Roper said.

The names of the victims are not being released until each person can be positively identified and their families notified, he said.

Multiple emergency responders assisted the Ranson Police Department at the scene, including fire companies from Ranson, Charles Town, Harpers Ferry and Shepherdstown, as well as the West Virginia State Police Charles Town Detachment, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department and other law enforcement agencies.