Wednesday, February 25, 2015

MASSIVE PILEUP IN MAINE INVOLVING 75+ VEHICLES; 17 INJURED













FEBRUARY 25, 2015

ETNA, MAINE

A crash Tuesday morning involving more than 40 vehicles shut down Interstate 95 for about five hours between Newport and Bangor, state police said.

The crash — which involves cars, a school bus and a tractor trailer in the northbound lanes — injured at least 17 people, including    some in serious condition, according to Maine State Police. Children on the bus were shaken up but not injured.

The collisions began at about 7:30 a.m. ET in heavy snow falling near Etna, Maine, about 30 miles west of Bangor.  The main crash involved more than two dozen vehicles, and a series of other wrecks — some with two or three vehicles and others in which vehicles slid off the road to avoid collisions — led up to the crash site, troopers said.

Brian Graham of Newport was driving with his daughter when he got caught up in one of the chain-reaction crashes.

"They were all pinging off of each other," he said.
The area was under a winter storm warning until 1 p.m. with an inch of snow recently fallen, and temperatures were in the upper teens much of the morning, according to the National Weather Service. Five to 9 inches of snow is expected to fall throughout the day.

Emergency personnel climbed on top of cars to reach motorists stuck in the middle of the chaotic mass of vehicles. State police spokesman Steve McCausland said one veteran trooper described the site as a "giant pile of metal."

Among those stuck in the pileup were lawyers for Kyle Dube of Orono, Maine, accused of killing Nichole Cable of Glenburn, Maine, in May 2013 after Nichole left her house, telling her mother that she was going out to meet someone she knew from Facebook. They were speaking to Justice Ann Murray of Penobscot County Superior Court via cellphone, and the trial was in recess until noon.

Assistant Attorney General Donald Macomber, a prosecutor in the case, said he was rear ended. Also caught up in the wreck and traffic backup were a witness and a juror.

A 30-mile stretch of northbound I-95, the only interstate in Maine, was closed as troopers, rescue workers and tow trucks clear the lanes. At about 12:30 p.m., officials were able to reopen one lane toward Bangor.


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AT LEAST 75 VEHICLES INVOLVED IN I-95 PILEUP

FEBRUARY 24, 2015

BANGOR, Maine (NEWS CENTER)

State Police said a pile-up Tuesday morning on I-95 involved at least 75 vehicles and injured 17 people.

"I'm absolutely shocked we don't have any fatalities," said Maine State Police Lt. Hashey.

The crash happened around 7:30 a.m. Tuesday and shutdown both northbound lanes on the major highway. The crash involved many cars, a school bus and a tractor trailer. None of the students in the school bus were injured. There was about three inches of fresh snow on the ground in the Bangor area Tuesday.
I assume road conditions caused this pile-up. The roads were very slippery," said Lt. Hashey.

At latest count, 17 suffered injuries and all were transported to Bangor hospitals. At least two of the injured are in serious condition.

Lt. Hashey said 50 vehicles were towed away. The original crash involved more than 25 vehicles, which then caused a series of other crashes as cars tried to avoid an accident. Some of the other crashes included two or three vehicles, with other vehicles going off the road to avoid the collisions.

The attorneys for Kyle Dube were stuck on I-95 due to this accident. They are speaking to judge via speakerphone. Another attorney for the state was stuck behind the accident as well as a witness and a juror.

A gathering area has been set up at EMMC to accommodate family and friends of patients who may arrive at the hospital.