One killed, one injured in head-on collision near Elkton

ELKTON — An investigation is continuing after two pickup trucks crashed head-on on a two-lane highway near Elkton on Thursday afternoon, killing one of the drivers and seriously injuring the other, according to the Maryland State Police.

Investigators identified Merle Black, 64, of Delaware as the man who was killed.

MSP troopers assigned to the North East Barrack, paramedics and other first responders rushed to Route 279, a short distance north of YMCA Boulevard, at 2:34 p.m. after receiving a dispatch regarding a two-vehicle collision at that location, police reported.

Based on the preliminary investigation, a 1998 Chevrolet Silverado driven by Black was traveling in the southbound lane of Route 279 when the driver inexplicably lost control of the truck, which then veered across the centerline into the opposing lane, police said.

At that point, the Silverado crashed head-on into a 2001 Ford F-250 truck that David Gascoine, 24, was operating in the northbound lane of that road, police added.

Black — the sole occupant of the Silverado — was pronounced dead at the crash scene, police reported. An ambulance crew drove Gascoine - the sole occupant of the Ford F-250 — to Christiana Hospital in Delaware, according to police.

The fatal collision forced a State Highway Administration crew to block a portion of Route 279 between the Route 40 intersection and the Elkton Boulevard intersection for more than two hours, allowing, in part, for cleanup and an on-scene accident reconstruction by MSP CRASH Team investigators. The detours caused heavy traffic backups on surrounding roads, including South Bridge Street and Elkton Boulevard.