Van in fatal rollover was mechanically sound

ARGYLE – A van that rolled over, killing a 15-year-old New York boy and injuring 12 others on Interstate 95 earlier this month, was mechanically sound, state police said Monday.

Investigators need only to interview van driver Yehoshua Hoffman, 22, to wrap up their investigation of the cause of the Aug. 6 crash, state police Lt. Wesley Hussey said.

Hoffman, who was critically injured in the crash, was released from Eastern Maine Medical Center of Bangor earlier this month and has returned home to New York. Hoffman has retained an attorney whom state police are working with, Hussey said.

Passenger Gedalia Rosenblatt, 15, of New York died in the crash, while Hoffman and passengers Daniel Gabay and Yakov Kahan were seriously injured.

The 10 remaining Orthodox Jewish youths ages 14 to 18 suffered broken bones, sprains and cuts.

Almost all of the campers were asleep about 10 hours into traveling from Bethel Wilderness Camp in upstate New York when the accident occurred at 7 a.m. near northbound mile marker 203.

The van veered into the median, went back across the road and down the sloped embankment, rolling over at least once and ejecting at least one occupant before it came to rest on its tires. A trailer carrying five canoes broke away from the van and stopped about 50 feet south of the vehicle near woods along the highway, Hussey said.

The survivors were taken to Eastern Maine Medical Center and St. Joseph Hospital in Bangor. Hoffman and passengers Daniel Gabay and Yakov Kahan were the most seriously injured. Hoffman underwent surgery at EMMC on Aug. 6, Hussey said.

Most passengers were not wearing seat belts, said camper Raphy Davidson, 16, of Monsey, N.Y.

The camping party was planning to canoe the Penobscot River, camp at Baxter State Park near Millinocket and hike Mount Katahdin as part of a two-week trip to Maine.

A state police accident reconstruction team examined the van extensively for mechanical defects that could have caused or contributed to the crash, but found none. The reconstruction specialists, forensic evidence technicians, detectives and a coroner were at the scene until almost 2 p.m. that day. One northbound lane of I-95 was closed for most of the morning.

Hussey could not say when the investigation would be concluded.