HARRISON – Two people died in a two-vehicle crash on Route 117 in Harrison on Wednesday, May 2.

According to the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office, a Ford Mustang traveling south on Route 117 between Upton Road and Plains Road at 3:30 p.m. crossed the centerline well into the path of the oncoming fully loaded logging truck. The driver of the logging truck attempted to avoid the collision but was unable to, police said. In attempting to avoid the collision, the truck left the roadway and crashed, partially spilling a load of logs.

Harrison Fire-Rescue responded and pronounced the driver of the Mustang, Linda Labonte, 63, of Harrison, dead at the scene. The passenger in the Mustang, Labonte’s mother Carmen Smith, 85, also of Harrison, was extricated and flown by Life Flight to Central Maine Medical Center where she was later pronounced dead.

The driver of the 1997 Peterbilt tri-axle trailer truck was Jeffery Coffin, 43, of South Paris, who was uninjured.

The Sheriff’s Office Investigators and Crash Reconstruction Team responded as did the Department of Environmental Protection responded to clean approximately 180 gallons of diesel fuel that spilled from the wreckage of the truck. Also, the Maine State Police- Commercial Vehicles Unit responded to process the logging truck, which is required by law after an accident.

The cause of accident remains under investigation by the deputies, an accident reconstruction team, detective divisions, along with the Maine State Police truck weights and measures unit.