A commercial truck drove off Tukey’s Bridge in Portland and landed in the water Wednesday morning. Ben McCanna/Staff Photographer
A commercial truck drove off Tukey’s Bridge in Portland, crashed through a guardrail and went airborne over a popular walking path before landing in the ocean Wednesday morning.
Three people from the truck were helped out of the water by an employee from the Portland Water District. They were taken to Maine Medical Center with injuries that were not considered life-threatening.
Curtis Trimmer, an employee at the Portland Water District, said he was watching the floodwaters when he heard a loud noise and a truck “came flying over the railing” around 10 a.m.
“It kind of did a nosedive onto the trail and ended up in the water,” he said. “After that we rushed down to make sure the guys were OK.”
The three men were out of the water when the Portland Fire Department arrived at the scene. Crews went into the water to make sure no one remained in the truck, said Deputy Chief Chad Johnston. He said the people from the truck are lucky to be alive and that bystanders were nearby to help.
According to the National Data Buoy Center, the water was 40 degrees. Johnston said there was a significant language barrier with the truck driver and passengers.
A commercial truck drove off Tukey’s Bridge in Portland and landed in the water Wednesday morning. Photo courtesy Maine State Police
Maine State Police said Wednesday afternoon that the truck, owned by Tree’s R Us out of Illinois, was heading north on Interstate 295 in the left lane. As the driver – identified as 51-year-old Arazo Marrero Niorge of Lakeland, Florida – attempted to merge right, he overcorrected to avoid hitting another car and lost control of the truck, police said.
The truck veered across all three lanes of traffic before breaking through the guardrail and falling over the embankment. Police said it was a 45-foot drop onto the pathway that was underwater because of the high tide and heavy rain.
State police said the wet road conditions were likely a factor in the crash.
Niorge and two other occupants in the truck were wearing their seatbelts and were able to get out of the truck themselves, according to state police.
The Maine Department of Environmental Protection also responded to deal with fuel that spilled into the water.
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