A tow truck operator is dead after being struck by a moving vehicle early Saturday in Laurel, Maryland.

U.S. Park Police told WTOP that it happened on the southbound Baltimore-Washington Parkway, near Route 197 at 12:47 a.m.

At the time, the operator was assisting a stranded driver, loading their car onto the bed of his tow truck, when he was struck by a passing vehicle.

The driver of that vehicle remained on the scene.

After an initial closure, the roadway reopened to traffic around 4:30 a.m.