Head-on collision kills 1, injures 2 in Dedham

DEDHAM – A head-on collision on U.S. Route 1A on Friday night left one person dead and two seriously injured.

The accident occurred at about 8:40 p.m. near the intersection of Route 1A and Lily Road. According to Chief Deputy Richard Bishop of the Hancock County Sheriff’s Department, one person was killed and two were taken to Eastern Maine Medical Center for what Dedham-Lucerne Fire Chief Frank Myatt described as serious injuries. No names were immediately released.

Traffic backed up for about two miles after police and fire personnel set up a roadblock while they investigated. The traffic later was diverted around that stretch of road.

A compact car in the eastbound lane, facing west, was covered with a red tarp as deputies tried to reconstruct the collision. The car’s front end was crushed beyond recognition, and witnesses stuck in traffic said they had seen the engine compartment on fire when they pulled up shortly after the crash.

In the westbound lane, a white pickup truck facing east bore similar evidence of the head-on crash, its hood and cab severely crumpled and its cap lying on the pavement several feet away. Witnesses reportedly heard three collisions, as the two vehicles collided near the crown of the hill, rebounded into the air and struck the ground again.

A Dedham woman stuck on Lily Road, five miles from her home, said the driver of the white truck was up and walking around after the collision.

The cause of the crash is still under investigation.