WALDO – Two Belfast brothers were killed when their Cadillac skidded out of control and slammed broadside into a utility poll on Kendall Corner Road late Tuesday.

Phillip D. Heroux, 37, and Donald Heroux, 36, were killed instantly.

A hydraulic cutting device was used to extricate them from the car. Neither brother was wearing a seat belt.

Robert Keating, chief deputy in the Waldo County Sheriff’s Department, said the accident was reported just before 10:30 p.m. Tuesday by a resident who heard the crash from inside his home.

Phillip Heroux was driving his 1991 Cadillac sedan west on Kendall Corner Road and had just passed the Bonne Terre Road intersection when the vehicle apparently skidded out of control.

Keating said investigators believe the skid was caused when the car hit a patch of packed snow and ice on the right side of the paved road. The vehicle skidded sideways and struck the utility pole on the passenger side.

“We believe the driver overcorrected when he hit that snow and ice, causing him to go into a skid,” Keating said Wednesday.

Keating said it was premature to conclude whether speed or alcohol was a factor. “It’s still under investigation,” he said.

Deputy Dale Brown and Maine State Police Trooper Jason Richards investigated. Deputy Ben Seekins was assigned to reconstruct the accident.