BINGHAM — Two women were critically injured Friday when a tractor-trailer truck jack-knifed on U.S. Route 201 and landed on top of their vehicle, pinning it against a tree.
It took more than an hour for rescue personnel to extricate the two Madison women using the Jaws of Life, Somerset County Detective Lt. Carl Gottardi said in a statement. The passenger was then taken to a Bangor hospital; the driver was taken to the Skowhegan hospital.
Both women were listed in fair condition at their hospitals Monday evening.
The crash, which was reported at 2:42 p.m. on Friday, remains under investigation, Gottardi said, but it appears the tractor trailer truck, driven by Louis Delorme, 51, of Saint-Bonaventure, Quebec, jack-knifed while traveling north.
The on-coming 2008 Toyota SUV, driven by Jeanice Ireland, 36, veered off the road to avoid the tractor trailer, Gottardi said, but the tractor trailer also veered to her side.
It then appears the truck struck a telephone pole in the southbound ditch, separating the trailer from the tractor. The tractor part landed on top of the vehicle, pinning it against a tree, Gottardi said.
The passenger of the SUV, Temi Tatakis, 37, was taken to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor by a LifeFlight ambulance crew, since the poor weather prevented a helicopter from flying.
Ireland was taken to Redington-Fairview General Hospital in Skowhegan.
Gottardi did not specify their injuries, nor whether they were wearing seat belts.
The tractor-trailer was a 2004 Volvo, which was hauling a 53-foot trailer loaded with recycled cardboard, and was owned by SGT 2000 Inc., of Saint-Germain, Quebec.
The driver of the tractor trailer truck was not injured.
Road conditions Friday were slippery as snow fell throughout the day, causing many accidents in the region.
Somerset County Deputy Michael Ross was assisted at the scene by fire departments from Bingham and Solon, Upper Kennebec Valley and Anson-Madison-Starks ambulance services, deputies Gene Cole, David Cole and Don Avery, and Maine State Police Trooper Joseph Parker, of the commercial vehicle unit.
Erin Rhoda — 474-9534
erhoda@centralmaine.com
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