EUSTIS, Maine — Two people suffered life-threatening injuries following a two-car crash Saturday morning in the town of Eustis.
At approximately 9:10 a.m., a silver 2010 GMC passenger van with a driver and four passengers was traveling southbound on Arnold Trail Road when they lost control of the vehicle, according to a news release from Maine Department of Public Safety spokesperson Shannon Moss.
The passenger van began skidding sideways on the roadway, and a black 2016 Toyota SUV traveling northbound was apparently unable to avoid the van in the northbound lane, resulting in a nearly head-on crash.
Two of the five people in the van suffered life-threatening injuries and were brought by ambulance to nearby hospitals, Mitchell Stapleton, a firefighter and EMT with the Eustis Fire Department told NEWS CENTER Maine.
One passenger was brought to Franklin Memorial Hospital in Farmington and the other was brought to Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston, Stapleton said, and both people injured were adults. Moss said both people are expected to survive.
The driver of the SUV was reportedly wearing their seatbelt, Moss said, but none of the occupants of the passenger van were wearing seatbelts.
Road conditions were believed to be factors in the crash, due to recent mixed precipitation in the area on top of already icy roads, Stapleton said.
The Arnold Trail Road was closed for several hours Saturday morning until it reopened at about 12:30 p.m., and all units cleared the area by about 2:30 p.m., according to Stapleton.
Multiple agencies responded in addition to Eustis Fire Department, including Maine State Police, the Franklin County Sheriff's Office, and NorthStar EMS. Border Patrol assisted Maine State Police, Moss said.
The crash was reconstructed by officials with Franklin County Sheriff's Office and Maine State Police.
Stapleton urged drivers to use caution when driving in the area this time of year, stating that conditions are "very dynamic" in the region and can vary greatly between downtown and rural regions.