PALERMO —Maine State Police announced this morning that Dean Camacho of Waterville has died of injuries he sustained in an early morning crash in Palermo Wednesday.

Camacho, 27, was a passenger in a Jeep being driven by 23-year-old Christian Arsenault of China. Police said Arsenault lost control of the Jeep on a curve, and the sports utility vehicle slammed into an oncoming tractor trailer. Arsenault was thrown from the vehicle on impact and Camacho had to be removed from inside the vehicle by rescue personnel.

The crash was investigated by Trooper Donald Webber, who determined that speed was the cause in the crash, not the weather, as snow had not yet begun to fall.

"...weather played no role," said Steve McCausland, spokesman for the state Department of Public Safety.

Arsenault remains in critical condition at Maine Medical Center in Portland, where Camacho was also taken after the crash and died overnight Wednesday.

The accident occurred at 5:45 a.m. Jan. 16 on North Palermo Road, according to McCausland. The truck was being driven by George Ingraham, 63, of Knox. He was not injured.