OLD TOWN – A day off from school turned tragic Thursday when two Old Town High School students were killed and two others critically injured after the 1991 Ford Escort they were riding in backed into the path of a tractor-trailer hauling wood chips.

The accident occurred about 1 p.m. on Route 16, about a half-mile from the Route 43 intersection, and is still under investigation by police. The two dead students were Steven Gomm, 18, of Milford and Gabriel Wood, 18, of Alton. Injured were the driver, Nathan Gates, 18, and Sean Kinch, 18, both of Old Town, according to Stephen McCausland, spokesman for the Maine State Police. The driver of the tractor-trailer was Kenneth Kealiher, 46, of Brewer. The 18-wheeler was owned by Maine Chips and was carrying wood chips destined for Georgia-Pacific Corp. in Old Town.

The Escort belongs to Gates’ mother, Kathryn Gates of Old Town.

The two dead youths were both on the passenger side of the vehicle. The tractor-trailer was headed south.

McCausland said the youths had been visiting a friend and left the home, backing out of the driveway and onto Route 16 when their vehicle was struck by the tractor-trailer. School had been canceled in Old Town on Thursday because of a snowstorm.

Emergency officials were forced to use the Jaws of Life to remove the roof and extricate the four teens, all of whom were pinned inside the vehicle, McCausland said. Gates and Kinch were taken to Eastern Maine Medical Center, where they were in critical condition late Thursday night.

“Right now I think our community is in shock,” said Old Town High School Principal Terry Kenniston, who was at the school Thursday afternoon manning the phone, answering questions from concerned people. Counselors and other staff were on hand to help students seeking help with dealing with the loss.

About a dozen counselors including clergy and guidance counselors will be at the school today providing support for students, staff and teachers, said school Superintendent Owen Maurais.

“We want to set up a structure tomorrow so that they can express concerns and feelings that they have and work through their feelings,” Maurais said.

A rising number of fatalities on Maine highways involving young drivers has drawn the attention of the state’s top motor vehicle official, Secretary of State Dan Gwadosky.

So far this year, 48 people, including the two killed Thursday, have died in crashes involving drivers between the ages of 16 and 24. That’s an increase from 38 such deaths last year and 40 in 2000.

Gwadosky has met with groups representing youths and driver education teachers and will meet with driver examiners before refining his own proposals to the Legislature to reduce the number of highway deaths involving inexperienced drivers.

“I’m convinced we have to do something,” Gwadosky said before the two most recent deaths.

Among his ideas are increasing the driving age from 16 to 17, banning teenagers from driving between midnight and 5 a.m., and mandatory license suspensions for teen drivers who get tickets.

An Alton man visited the accident scene Thursday afternoon fearing that his son might have been involved but learned that the heavily damaged car was red and not the light blue car his son had taken off in earlier.

The man did not want to be identified but said he lives five miles up the road and knows Bennoch Road well. And although he didn’t know what caused the accident, the man said that large trucks tend to speed along the road.

The Associated Press contributed to this report