AUGUSTA — The Maine Warden Service on Sunday urged snowmobilers to slow down after 10 people were injured in nine crashes over Friday and Saturday.
Information about the accidents was issued in a press release from Cpl. John MacDonald, spokesman for the Maine Warden Service. The names of all of those injured on Saturday were not available Sunday.
In Lewiston, an 8-year-old hit the throttle on the snowmobile driven by his grandfather, 57. The snowmobile accelerated and struck a tree. Two other children were also on the snowmobile. The 8-year-old was taken to Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston for non-life threatening injuries.
Brooke Hannington, 21, hometown unknown, suffered a broken leg Saturday when she was thrown at least 20 feet after her snowmobile struck two others on Interconnecting Trail System 83 in TA-R7 near Medway. She was transported to Millinocket Regional Hospital and then to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor.
She was behind Travis Hannington, who had pulled over at an intersection, and a second sled operated by Alan Cox. Cox skidded to a stop behind him, throwing up some snow dust. Brooke Hannington hit Cox on the back right corner, went up over the side of it and hit the first sled in the rear. The crash remained under investigation Sunday.
A 15-year-old boy traveling south on Interconnecting Trail System 84 at a high rate of speed was injured when he failed to negotiate a steep drop in the trail. He became airborne and was ejected from his snowmobile. He was found unconscious next to his snowmobile by his father. The teen was taken to Redington Fairview Hospital in Skowhegan, where he was treated for a concussion, facial contusions, hip and knee injuries.
A 35-year-old Rhode Island man placed his leg out to stop his rented snowmobile from rolling and suffered a broken leg in Greenwood on Saturday. He was taken to Bridgton Hospital.
In Acton on Saturday, the operator of a snowmobile went airborne and suffered serious back and facial injuries. The driver was taken to Maine Medical Center in Portland.
Also on Saturday, Jorge M. Amaral, 41, of Rhode Island, who left Bingham with a group of seven traveling north on Interconnecting Trail System 87, was ejected from his snowmobile into the woods when he failed to negotiate a turn. He was taken to Redington Fairview Hospital in Skowhegan with an arm injury and minor facial cuts.
Daniel Martin, 20, of Clinton, Mass., was traveling with 12 others on Friday at a high rate of speed in Fort Kent, when he observed an upcoming turn approaching quickly and jumped from his machine. He struck a tree and suffered serious leg injuries. Martin was taken to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor.
A head-on snowmobile collision Friday night in Lyman on the crest of a hill left two teenagers injured. Maxwell Hutchins, 19, suffered a serious leg injury and was taken to Maine Medical Center in Portland. Benjamin Gass, 17, suffered head injuries that weren’t considered life threatening. He was was taken to Southern Medical Center in Biddeford. Hometowns for the pair were not released.
Also on Friday, Richard Cordero, 54, of Peabody, Mass., suffered a leg injury in Dyer Brook, when he struck a tree next to the trail. He was taken to Houlton Regional Hospital.
Alcohol was not listed as a major factor in any of the crashes.
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