Campers hurt in bus rollover on interstate

TOPSHAM – A school bus transporting youngsters from a summer camp in Belgrade to an amusement park in Saco rolled over Sunday on Interstate 295, injuring several passengers.

The 37 girls and boys, ages 12 and 13, along with 10 counselors and the bus driver, were taken to five hospitals either for treatment of injuries or as a precaution, said Maj. Randy Nichols of the Maine State Police.

There were no fatalities and none of the injuries was regarded as life-threatening, police said. The two campers most seriously injured were taken to Maine Medical Center in Portland, one by LifeFlight helicopter and the other by ambulance. Two youngsters suffered broken arms.

Because everyone aboard the bus was taken to a hospital, there was no count on how many were injured.

The bus, chartered from Poland’s Bus Service in Cornville, was part of a convoy of buses and vans carrying youngsters from Camp Modin to Funtown USA, a popular amusement area.

The accident happened in good weather around 8:45 a.m. about 30 miles northeast of Portland after the bus veered onto the soft shoulder in the breakdown lane on a slight curve, Nichols said. The driver, Debra Mosier, then overcorrected, causing the bus to skid sideways across both travel lanes and end up on its right side in the median, he said.

The children left the bus through the emergency door in the rear.

“Based on witness statements, evidence at the scene and the driver’s recollection of events, it appears that the crash was the result of driver inattention,” Nichols said. “The driver doesn’t believe she fell asleep, but it’s clear that her attention waned at that critical moment when there’s a very slight left turn in the roadway.”

Mosier, 35, of Cornville, was given a blood test as a matter of routine, but there was no indication that alcohol was involved, Nichols said.

Sixteen ambulances from as far away as Cumberland and Yarmouth were used to transport the children to hospitals, most of them in Brunswick and Lewiston.

The most seriously injured was Benji Bernstein, 12, of Montclair, N.J., who was flown to Maine Medical Center and will remain overnight for continued treatment of a head injury and observation. Nichols said the boy was doing fine but was expected to return home Monday rather than go back to camp.

Also taken to Maine Medical Center was a counselor, Yacinda Parcell, 21, of Australia, who was treated and released.

Two others on the bus were admitted to Mid Coast Hospital in Brunswick for observation. Kortney Mettle, 19, of Chicago remained at the hospital last night, but most of the campers and counselors had been treated and released by evening.

The road was closed to traffic for nearly three hours while crews righted the bus and troopers reconstructed the accident.

The other buses and vans in the convoy exited the highway in Topsham, where police interviewed witnesses, and then returned to camp. Camp officials said all parents had been contacted about the crash.

Camp Modin, established in 1922, has 350 campers ranging in age from 7 to 16. It was established in 1922 and is described on its Web site as the oldest Jewish camp in New England. Many of the campers were from New York, New Jersey, New Hampshire and Connecticut, McCausland said.