A 26-year-old woman was killed and two men were seriously injured Friday afternoon in a single-vehicle crash on Interstate 295 in Falmouth, state police said.
The fatal accident happened just before 2 p.m. Friday when the car left the road near mile marker 12 and crashed into the stone ledge along the northbound lanes. The force of the collision was so strong that the engine was ripped from the vehicle’s frame and came to rest in the middle of the travel lane, the Maine Department of Public Safety said.
The victim’s name was withheld Friday night pending notification of her next of kin. But state police said the woman was 26 years old and from out of state.
State police identified the vehicle’s driver as Brannon McRae, 29, of Augusta. Department of Public Safety spokesman Steve McCausland said other drivers told state troopers that McRae’s car was speeding and driving erratically just before the crash.
McCausland said that “the district attorney’s office will be consulted on potential charges against him.” McRae and a second, unidentified man sustained serious injuries and were taken to Maine Medical Center in Portland for treatment.
The crash caused severe traffic backups on I-295 on Friday afternoon. Northbound lanes were closed between mile markers 10 and 15 and traffic was diverted onto Route 1 in Falmouth and the Maine Turnpike, the Maine Department of Transportation said.
In addition to the I-295 crash, there was a motor vehicle crash on the southbound Maine Turnpike between Exit 47 and Exit 46 in Portland. The vehicles in that crash had been removed by 4 p.m. on Friday, but delays were still being reported, the Turnpike Authority said.
The turnpike authority also reported delays on I-95 between Saco and Portland on Friday afternoon.
Comments are not available on this story.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
