Two-car crash on turnpike in Gray injures 8

GRAY — Eight people were transported to hospitals in Lewiston and Portland on Sunday night after a two-car crash on the Maine Turnpike in Gray.

Steve McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety, said the vehicles crashed in the northbound lane, about a mile south of the Gray toll exit.

“Eight people were injured, but none of their injuries are believed to be life-threatening,” McCausland said.

Two of the victims were taken to Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston, while the remaining six were taken to Maine Medical Center in Portland.

State troopers investigating the cause of the crash were heading to the hospitals to check on the conditions of the victims.

The crash, which was reported around 8 p.m., remains under investigation. The identities of the accident victims were not available Sunday night.

Both northbound lanes of the turnpike in Gray were closed briefly, the Maine Turnpike tweeted, but by 8:30 p.m. or so, traffic was using the breakdown lane to get around the wreckage.

Traffic volume on the turnpike, especially between the York tollbooth and New Hampshire, was so heavy Sunday that the Maine Turnpike Authority kept issuing warnings throughout the day to motorists to expect delays.