MEXICO, Maine — Search efforts are underway for two people who were traveling in a vehicle that was swept away by floodwaters Monday evening off Route 2 in Mexico.
Four people were inside the vehicle while they were about to cross over the Red Bridge into Rumford. However, while the driver reportedly was trying to turn around, the "vehicle got swept into rising flood waters of the Swift River" just before 5 p.m., Maine Department of Public Safety spokesperson Shannon Moss said Tuesday in a news release.
Two people were able to get to safety, but two others remain missing, Moss said. One of the people who is missing was able to get out of the vehicle, but another individual was still trapped inside when the car was swept away, the release stated.
Mexico police, the Maine Warden Service, and Maine State Police are working together in the search and investigation.
The two people who were rescued were brought to Rumford Hospital, where they were treated for hypothermia. Their conditions and identities were not shared in the release.
The Department of Public Safety urged extreme caution for those traveling in areas where there is a risk for flooding and asked the public to "respect" road closures and avoid traversing flooded roadways.
Boats are being deployed to help people in the area who are trapped in floodwaters, and a shelter has been set up at Mountain Valley High School at 799 Hancock St. in Rumford, the agency said.
Two people have died from injuries related to the Monday storm. A male from Fairfield was fatally injured while trying to remove a downed tree with his tractor, and a Windham man who was working to clear debris from his roof was fatally struck when part of a tree came down on him, killing him immediately.