A victim of a horse-drawn wagon crash that occurred in Clinton Sunday was listed in satisfactory condition Wednesday at Maine Medical Center in Portland.

Rita Fortin, 77, of Benton, was a passenger in the crash on Water Street in which at least two people were taken to hospitals. A Maine Medical spokesperson Wednesday morning confirmed Fortin’s condition.

Clinton police Chief Rusty Bell on Tuesday evening released the names of those involved in the accident, which occurred around 7:30 p.m. Sunday when one of the two horses was bitten by an insect and became agitated, according to police, shaking and breaking its bridle and sending the wagon crashing into a utility pole, then striking a car and hitting another pole before the wagon came to rest in the street.

The other victims of the crash are Alberta Fish, 81, and Sandra Irving, 59, also of Benton, and Heather Bingelis, 50, of Sabbattus. Andrew Fortin, 52, of Benton, was apparently driving the wagon when the crash occurred.

“We haven’t gotten any updates on the medical conditions,” Bell said in a phone call. “I know that two of them, as of yesterday, were still hospitalized but other than that, things are a lot better than what they appeared to be on Sunday.”

He said the two oldest women are the ones who were still in the hospital.

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“Those two were hospitalized as a result of the accident, but nobody else was,” he said. “They were checked out and released. That’s really all I have.”

A spokesman for Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center, in Bangor, where Fish was taken, said she was in fair condition Wednesday afternoon.

Police initially did not release the names of those involved in the incident, with Officer Phil DiLuca saying earlier this week that the families requested privacy.

DiLuca described the event as a “freak accident,” and said no charges were filed.

 

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