FREEPORT – Two people were killed and two injured in a crash Thursday morning that tied up traffic on Interstate 295, authorities said.

Four young men from Greater Portland were in the car that hit the guardrail along the median, turned sideways and skidded across the highway before hitting trees at 6 a.m., said Stephen McCausland of the Maine Public Safety Department.

Three people were ejected, and two of them survived, McCausland said. The survivors were taken to Maine Medical Center, where their injuries were not believed to be life-threatening, he said. Identities were not immediately released.

The accident happened two miles south of the Brunswick line and shut down both southbound lanes for a time. Traffic backed up for two to three miles before vehicles were allowed to continue southward past the crash site.