FREEMAN TOWNSHIP – Two Mount Abram High School students were hospitalized Thursday after the vehicle they were traveling in struck a utility pole.

One of the three boys was ejected from the car and was in serious condition.

A 16-year-old boy was driving the car south on Route 145 on the way home from school about 2:15 p.m. when he lost control, struck a utility pole and landed in a ditch, said State Police Trooper Mathew Casavant and his supervisor, Sgt. Gary Wright.

The driver’s name has not been released, Wright said.

He was not hurt, Casavant said.

Blair Kemp, 15, and Justin Maclean, 17, who Wright said are both from the Strong area, were passengers in the vehicle and were injured.

Maclean struck the windshield and had cuts on his face and arms, Wright said.

He was listed in good condition at Franklin Memorial Hospital in Farmington, a hospital spokeswoman said Thursday evening.

Kemp was ejected from the vehicle and has some internal injuries, Wright said.

He was listed in serious condition at the Farmington hospital before he was transferred to Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston, the Franklin Memorial spokeswoman said.

A nursing supervisor at the Lewiston hospital said Kemp was still being evaluated at 7:30 p.m.

The three teens were in a 1999 Dodge Stratus owned by Sherra Ladd, 43, of Strong, Wright said.

A preliminary investigation showed that the passengers were not wearing seat belts, Wright said. The accident was reconstructed, he said.

The preliminary investigation also indicates that speed and driver inexperience were contributing factors, Wright said.

The Franklin County Sheriff’s Department assisted at the scene. The Salem and Strong fire departments responded to the scene, as well as Sugarloaf and AMPS ambulance services.

dperry@sunjournal.com

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