SABATTUS – Two women were seriously injured Tuesday afternoon when a car and van collided head-on on Bowdoinham Road.

Jennifer Berube, 21, of Wales, and Nancy Kelley, 61, of Sabattus were each listed in serious condition Tuesday night at a Lewiston hospital.

Fire crews had to rip the roofs from both vehicles to free the trapped drivers after the 2:30 p.m. crash. Both women were taken to Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston with broken bones and other injuries, police said.

Police said it appeared Berube was driving her car west when she drifted into the oncoming lane roughly a half mile away from the intersection at Route 9. Her car slammed head-on into Kelley’s minivan, which was traveling in the opposite direction, police said.

A witness said Berube was in an out of consciousness while rescue crews freed her. Both victims were wearing seat belts and airbags deployed in both vehicles, police said.

Police closed off a stretch of Bowdoinham Road into the early evening hours as police investigated the wreck. Sabattus police were being assisted by Maine State Police, who were reconstructing the crash scene.

“We’re still trying to determine why one of the vehicles crossed over into the oncoming lane,” said Sabattus police Sgt. Rick Bates.

The crash occurred on a curving stretch of Bowdoinham Road, Bates said. Both vehicles – Berube’s Pontiac Grand Am and Kelley’s Pontiac Mountaineer – were demolished in the wreck.

mlaflamme@sunjournal.com