LEWISTON — A local nurse rushed to help Friday night when an SUV rolled onto its roof at Sabattus Street and Randall Road.

The Ford Escape flipped after colliding with a pickup truck at about 6:30 p.m. at the intersection.

Joanne Bellmore, a nurse who lives in Greene, was stopped in traffic on Randall Road when the crash unfolded in front of her. When the SUV flipped, she jumped out of her car to check on the victims.

“I didn’t see any scrapes or blood or anything like that,” Bellmore said. 

The woman on the driver’s side appeared to be upset and momentarily trapped inside the overturned vehicle, Bellmore said.

“I just rubbed her leg and kept telling her, ‘you’re going to be OK, you’re going to be OK,'” she said.

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Ultimately, both victims were able to crawl out windows. Both were evaluated by paramedics. The extent of their injuries was not immediately known.

The driver of the pickup truck, meanwhile, was being examined for shoulder pain, but he also seemed to escape with minor injuries.

Witnesses said the driver of the pickup was heading driving on Sabattus Street when the crash occurred. The couple in the Ford Escape were on Randall Road, either driving through the intersection or making a left turn onto Sabattus, witnesses said.

When the vehicles collided, the overturned Escape landed in the intersection, blocking traffic from Randall Road.

Police, fire and rescue crews responded, closing off traffic around the crash site. The result was traffic snarls on both ends of Sabattus Street and a long line of vehicles backed up on Randall Road.

Police were speaking to witnesses later Friday night as their investigation got underway.


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