SIDNEY, Maine — Five people were hospitalized after a multi-vehicle crash in Sidney on Wednesday afternoon, police say.
A news release from the Maine Department of Public Safety stated police were called at 3:40 p.m. about a car on fire on Interstate 95 between mile markers 119 and 120. Officers found a white 2013 Crysler 300 fully engulfed in flames. The driver had managed to pull the car into the breakdown lane and escape.
Traffic was reduced to one lane, police said. As officers responded to the car on fire, a crash involving four vehicles took place at mile marker 119. A tractor-trailer hauling debris materials failed to slow down with traffic in time and struck three other vehicles, pushing them off the road.
A person in one of those vehicles was hospitalized with minor injuries.
Shortly after that, with traffic backed up for miles, a separate crash took place near mile marker 118 involving four vehicles.
Police said a black 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee was traveling north and rear-ended the vehicle in front of her, causing a "chain reaction crash."
The release stated four people were hospitalized with minor injuries as a result.