Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2020 | 8:23 a.m.
CARMEL, Maine — Multiple people were injured in a major pileup involving about 30 vehicles Tuesday morning on a highway in Maine, state troopers said.
There were no fatalities but multiple ambulances and a medical helicopter were dispatched to the crash site on Interstate 95 near Bangor, according to Stephen McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety.
Initial reports were that some motorists were blinded by the morning sun, contributing to the chain-reaction pileup that happened during the morning commute in which a stream of motorists were headed toward Bangor, he said.
It was initially reported that up to 60 vehicles were involved, but the figure was revised downward, McCausland said.
The weather didn't appear to be a factor in the crash, which was reported at about 7:45 a.m. There had been some slight snow that ended at midnight, hours before the pileup, the National Weather Service said.
There was a massive backup up of cars, and troopers were trying to sort out the best way to reroute the vehicles off the highway. The northbound lanes were expected to be closed for most of the day, officials said.
Tuesday’s mass collision is not the first on the interstate in Maine. More than 30 people were injured in a pileup that involved 102 vehicles over a four-mile stretch of I-95 during light snow in February 2015 between Newport and Bangor.
