Van rolls over on Maine Turnpike, spraying nails, power tools across highway

A van rolled over on the Maine Turnpike on Monday morning, spraying nails, construction equipment and power tools across the highway and injuring multiple people.

Maine State Police said troopers responded to a report of a crash on the Maine Turnpike in Ogunquit at 8:12 a.m.

Their initial investigation indicated that the driver of a commercial van was traveling north on the highway when he lost control of the vehicle on wet pavement and rolled over in the median. Debris including roofing nails, construction equipment and power tools were thrown from the van into all three southbound lanes.

A Honda that was driving south on the Maine Turnpike struck some of the construction debris, disabling the vehicle and deploying its airbags, which caused minor injury to the female driver.

The driver of the van, identified by police as 39-year-old Victor Miguel Cedillo Merchan, of Brockton, Massachusetts, was not injured. There were also four male passengers in the van, three of whom were not wearing seatbelts and were taken to Portsmouth Regional Hospital across the border in New Hampshire with what state police said were serious but not life-threatening injuries.

The crash remains under investigation, but police said speed and erratic operation appear to have been factors.

Multiple lanes both southbound and northbound were closed for a time due to the crash and the subsequent investigation and cleanup. All of them have since reopened.