Massachusetts driver seriously injured in turnpike truck collision

A box truck rear-ended a cement truck on the Maine Turnpike Thursday morning, shutting down one lane of traffic for several hours. Courtesy Maine State Police

A Massachusetts man was seriously injured Thursday morning when the box truck he was driving on the Maine Turnpike rear-ended a fully loaded cement truck.

Manuel Depina-Gonolves, 22, of Boston, was traveling southbound in Kittery just after 8 a.m. when the box truck hit a cement truck driven by Peter Macdonald, 59, of South Berwick, said Shannon Moss, spokesperson for the Maine Department of Public Safety.

Depina-Gonolves was trapped in his vehicle and had to be extricated with severe but non-life-threatening injuries, Moss said. Macdonald was not injured.

Maine State Police said speed and following too close were factors in the crash. One southbound lane was shut down for a few hours.

Kittery Fire Department and the Maine Turnpike Authority Maintenance crews assisted at the scene.