Police release name of victim in fatal crash near Elkton

ELKTON — Maryland State Police officials have released the name of the man who was killed in a head-on collision near Elkton on Thursday, identifying him as Merle Black, 64, of Newark, Del.

MSP officials released the victim’s name to the Cecil Whig on Saturday, along with the name of 24-year-old David Gascoine, who reportedly was seriously injured in the collision that occurred at approximately 2:30 p.m. Thursday on Route 279, a short distance north of YMCA Boulevard and short distance south of the Blue Ball Road intersection.

MSP troopers assigned to the North East Barrack, paramedics and other first responders rushed to Route 279 at 2:34 p.m. Thursday after receiving a dispatch regarding a two-vehicle collision that occurred a short distance north of YMCA Boulevard, 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 Gascoine 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. Updated information on Gascoine’s medical condition was unavailable, as of Monday.

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.