CARIBOU, Maine — A Fort Fairfield couple in their 80s were killed Wednesday afternoon when their vehicle was struck broadside by a city dump truck on U.S. Route 1, also known as Van Buren Road, as they left the Caribou connector.
Caribou Police Chief Michael Gahagan said in a statement issued late Wednesday evening that the 84-year-old driver, Robert Plummer, was declared dead at the scene. His wife, Rachel Plummer, 83, died of her injuries a short time later at Cary Medical Center in Caribou, the chief reported.
The Plummers’ 2007 Honda CRV failed to yield as it left the connector road and was struck broadside by a 2004 International dump truck, belonging to Caribou’s public works department, traveling north on Route 1. The operator of the truck, 40-year-old Robert Deschesne, was not injured.
The Caribou connector is a 4-mile road connecting U.S. Route 1 and Route 89 to Route 161 north of downtown Caribou.
The accident occurred at the exit to Van Buren Road just north of the Caribou Veterans of Foreign Wars hall, according to a dispatcher.
Members of the Caribou Police Department were assisted at the scene by members of the Maine State Police commercial vehicle enforcement unit, Maine Warden Service reconstruction unit and Caribou Fire and Ambulance. The crash is being investigated by Caribou Officer Douglas Bell.