LIBERTY — An Augusta man was killed in an early morning head-on collision on Route 3 in Liberty Tuesday morning, July 30.

Waldo County Sheriff's Department Chief Deputy Jeff Trafton said the call about the crash came in around 8:17 a.m. and was initially thought to be a three-car collision.

"After the confusion subsided we determined it actually involved two cars near Liberty General Store" said Trafton.

Trafton said preliminary indications point to "driver fatigue causing the surviving victim to cross the center lane."

The deceased, identified as 69-year-old Gary Diffin of Augusta, "[probably] died instantly," Trafton said.

It took a day to release the man's name, pending the notification of next-of-kin. The other driver, Ethan Hopkins, 23, of Orland, was transported to Waldo County General Hospital with "what look to be non-life-threatening injuries," said Trafton. Hopkins was driving a GMC van when he crossed the centerline and crashed into Diffin's Saturn sedan, killing him.

In addition to deputies from the WCSO, Maine State Police troopers and firefighters from Liberty Fire Department responded to the scene.

To reach Erica Thoms, email news@penbaypilot.com.