Man killed after car hits moose Three other people in Volkswagen unhurt in I-95 accident

TOWNSHIP 2, RANGE 8 – An unidentified man died after his car struck a moose on Interstate 95 Thursday night, firefighters said.

The man was driving a Volkswagen Jetta north near mile marker 233 at about 9:30 p.m. when the collision occurred. The vehicle gradually veered right off the road and traveled about 150 yards before it stopped at the bottom of the highway embankment. The vehicle appeared to have heavy front-end damage.

Three other people in the Jetta appeared to be uninjured but were taken to Penobscot Valley Hospital to be checked out as a precaution, Lincoln Fire Department Deputy Chief Hervey Clay said.

State police Trooper Barry Meserve confirmed the fatality but said investigators were still working to determine exactly what happened.

Clay said he believed the people in the vehicle were from Montreal. The vehicle had Quebec license plates.

“I don’t think they were a family. I think they were just four people who were traveling together,” Clay said.

Firefighters from Lincoln and East Millinocket had closed the highway to one lane for about a half-mile before the accident scene. The firefighters were standing by late Thursday night to use the Jaws of Life extrication tool to cut the body from the vehicle.

State police said weather might have been a factor in the accident. A mist hung over the highway in the area surrounding the accident scene.

The fatality was the second reported in that area of I-95 this week. Thomas Record, 66, of Patten died Monday in a two-vehicle collision in the southbound lane near mile marker 236. That case remains under investigation.