FREEPORT – A 46-year-old man was seriously injured Monday afternoon when he stepped in front of a tractor-trailer truck on I-295 in what was deemed an attempted suicide.

Maine State Police said Eric Rinfret of Saco suffered multiple injuries when he was struck by the side of the truck. He was undergoing emergency surgery late in the afternoon at Maine Medical Center.

Troopers are calling the incident an attempted suicide. They said Rinfret told them he parked his Volvo station wagon in the breakdown lane on the northbound side and waited for an approaching large truck.

The driver of the truck loaded with mail was not injured, police said. One lane on the northbound side was shut down for more than two hours while troopers investigated, causing a huge traffic tie-up that extended into Yarmouth.

At least two other accidents were caused by the traffic slowdowns. One of those crashes shut down the road for a second time and traffic was being diverted to Route 1 during the late afternoon commute.