Monster truck clips aerial power line, toppling utility poles in spectator area

TOPSHAM, Maine — A lobster-themed monster truck performing for a crowd severed a power line, downing several utility poles and sending two people to hospitals, police said. Others suffered minor injuries.

The Topsham Fairgrounds was hosting the Monster Truck event on Saturday when a vehicle called Crushstation bounced up a ramp, went airborne and hit the power line. Video showed people rushing as the jammed line set off a cascade of events, with several utility poles and a transformer near the stands falling, and live wires falling to the ground.

Two people were taken to hospitals and others suffered minor injuries, Topsham police said. The driver of the truck was not injured.

“I’m still a little shocked,” said Mike Hersom, who watched with his three-year-old son and narrowly avoided the falling transformer.

He said he watched in disbelief for a moment before he acted to leave; he saw how close the transformer came to him and his son when he watched a video. “When I watched the video I thought, ‘Holy smokes. That’s crazy,” he said on Sunday.

The event promoter did not return an email.

The monster truck from Maine was shaped like a lobster and was named Crushstation, a play on the word crustacean. The owners did not immediately return an email seeking comment Sunday.