Vehicles and debris lie strewn across Interstate 95 in West Gardiner late Saturday morning in the northbound lanes following a crash that killed a man and sent a woman to the hospital. This crash happened in traffic that had slowed for two other crashes that happened 20 minutes earlier in the area of mile marker 106 in Farmingdale. Maine State Police

WEST GARDINER — A man was killed and his passenger was taken to the hospital Saturday when the BMW sedan they were traveling in was rear-ended on Interstate 95.

The initial investigation by Maine State Police indicated the fatal crash at mile marker 104 was a secondary crash in the northbound lanes of the interstate. Traffic had slowed because of two other crashes 20 minutes earlier, one at mile marker 105 and the other at mile marker 106, involving several vehicles, sending several people to the hospital.

According to a news release issued by the Maine Department of Public Safety, the BMW was struck from behind, pinning it between two vehicles.

Northbound interstate traffic was backed up south of the scene of the crash for more than an hour. Vehicles headed north on interstates 95 and 295 were diverted off the highway at West Gardiner, causing traffic congestion throughout Gardiner, as drivers looked for alternate northbound routes on the west side of the Kennebec River.

Shannon Moss, public information officer for the Department of Public Safety, said the crashes remain under investigation. Names of those involved in the crash will not be released until the family of the man killed is notified.

The highway was reopened and traffic was reportedly flowing as usual later Saturday afternoon.

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