Route 1 in York was closed for several hours Thursday evening after a 10-vehicle pileup in which a dump truck overturned and landed on a car.

York Police Chief Doug Bracy called the pileup the largest accident his department has responded to in years.

Four people were taken to York Hospital for treatment, but police said their injuries were not life-threatening. Ten people who were involved in the crash were treated at the scene, but declined transportation to the hospital.

The incident happened just after 4 p.m. on Route 1 near Spur Road. Bracy said the cause of the crash remains under investigation by his department and the Maine State Police Commercial Vehicle Inspection Division.

Bracy said it appears that the truck driver swerved to avoid a vehicle at the intersection of Route 1 and Spur Road, causing the truck to turn over on its side. The southbound truck hit cars and a motorcycle that were stopped at a traffic light in the northbound lane. James Pratt, 50, the operator of the motorcyle, was taken to York Hospital.

The dump truck, which was hauling gravel, tipped onto the hood of a small sedan, dumping its load onto the car and the street, according to the Maine Department of Transportation and photos of the incident.

Both lanes of Route 1 were closed for about three hours, and Exit 7 off the Maine Turnpike was closed briefly. The road reopened to traffic in both directions around 8:30 p.m.


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