A passenger died Thursday night in Charles County in the crash of a car that an officer had followed after trying to stop it, the sheriff’s office said.

       The officer had tried to stop the car in the Waldorf area near St. Charles Parkway and St. Ignatius Drive, but the car ultimately drove north on St. Charles Parkway, at high speed as the officer tried to follow, according to the sheriff’s office.

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       At one point, the officer temporarily lost sight of it near a curve, and later determined that it had crashed, the sheriff’s office said.

       When the officer came upon the wreckage, the driver was gone, and the passenger was on the ground nearby, fatally injured, according to the sheriff’s account.

       Her name was withheld pending notification of relatives.

       In accordance with state law, the incident is being investigated by the Independent Investigations Division of the state attorney general’s office, and by the state police.