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 ALLAGASH, Maine (AP) -- A van carrying migrant workers went off a one-lane bridge into a river in the northern Maine wilderness early Thursday, and about a dozen people were presumed drowned, state police said. At least one person survived the crash into the Allagash Wilderness Waterway, but 12 or 13 others were unaccounted for, said Stephen McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety. The survivor, who spoke Spanish, was part of a crew hired to clear land for Seven Islands Land Co., a land management company, McCausland said. The accident happened on John's Bridge, a one-lane wooden bridge with no railings between Eagle and Churchill lakes, about 25 miles east of the Canadian border. State police divers had to use float planes to reach the remote site. A high wind advisory was in effect at the time of the accident, according to the National Weather Service. The advisory urged motorists, especially those in high-profile vehicles, to proceed with caution because of wind gusts approaching 45 mph. The Allagash Wilderness Waterway is a 92-mile state-administered wild river popular with canoeists. Lifesaving Resources Inc. - www.lifesaving.com - 603/563-8330 |
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