3 people injured when Freightliner truck crashes into water in Portland, Maine, state police say
Three people were sent to the hospital after a Freightliner truck driven by a Florida man on Interstate 295 broke through a guardrail and fell about 45 feet down an embankment and into water, state police said.
A 2011 Freightliner utility truck, owned by Tree’s R Us out of Illinois, was traveling northbound along I-295 in Portland when the crash occurred shortly before 10 a.m. Wednesday, state police said.
A preliminary investigation found that the truck, driven by 51-year-old Arazo Marrero Niorge of Lakeland, Florida, was traveling in the left most lane. As Niorge attempted to merge into the right lane, a vehicle that had been traveling in lane 3, or the right most lane began merging at the same time, state police said.
Niorge attempted to avoid the car and merge back, but due to another vehicle coming up from behind, he overcorrected and lost control of the truck. State police said the truck then veered toward the right side of the roadway crossing all lanes of traffic on Tukey’s Bridge, before he broke through the guardrail and went over the embankment.
The truck fell approximately 45 feet from the roadway to where it came to rest on its passenger side, partly on a paved pathway that had been submerged in water, in part because of the high tide and heavy rain, state police said.
A preliminary investigation found that the roadway was wet at the time and likely a factor in the crash, state police said.
Niorge and two other occupants in the truck were wearing their seatbelts and were able to self-extricate themselves from the truck., state police said. All three occupants were taken by ambulance to Maine Medical Center for non-life-threatening injuries. Their conditions were not known on Thursday.
Maine State Police was assisted on scene by Portland Police and Fire, the Department of Transportation, Department of Environmental Protection, the U.S. Coast Guard and the National Wrecker Service.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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