Four people were injured when a theater troupe’s charter bus overturned on Interstate 95 in Burnham late Tuesday night, the Maine State Police said.
Police say the driver of the bus, 65-year-old Charles Barry of Omaha, Nebraska, fell asleep as the bus traveled north to Orono around 11:30 p.m. The bus drifted off the right side of the road, overturned on its side and came to rest down an embankment, police said.
The bus was carrying about 38 passengers ranging in age from 11 to 49, according to police.
The tour bus for the Nebraska Theatre Caravan was headed to Orono from Schenectady, New York, for a Wednesday night Christmas concert.
The four passengers who sustained minor injuries were taken to hospitals in Pittsfield and Waterville. Police described the injured passengers as three women and one man, all in their 20s and 30s. The other 34 passengers and the driver were taken by school bus to a Waterville hotel for the night, police said.
Barry was cited by troopers for failing to maintain control of the bus, which is owned by Arrow Stage Line of Omaha. The bus was righted by two wreckers just after 2 a.m. and removed from the scene.
The University of Maine Collins Center for the Arts announced that the theater troupe’s Thursday night performance of “A Christmas Carol” was canceled. The group said on social media that “the remainder of the tour is yet to be determined.”
Troopers were assisted at the scene by Pittsfield and Clinton police.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Comments are not available on this story.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
