Excessive Speed Caused Crash That Killed Camper: Cops

A 12-year-old Westport girl was killed during summer camp in Maine.

Speeding was the primary cause of a fatal crash between a tractor-trailer truck and a van that was carrying young campers from Colebrook, according to police in Maine.

A truck loaded with sawdust crashed into the back of a YMCA minivan in Farmington, Maine on Aug. 17, killing Tess Meisel, 12, of Westport. The van, owned by Camp Jewell YMCA in Colebrook, was headed from Acadia National Park to a park in Vermont.

Four campers and two staff members from Camp Jewell were in the minivan, James Morton, President and CEO of the YMCA of Greater Hartford, said last month.

Samantha Galvao, 13, of Westport, Samantha Hollender, 15, of Connecticut, and the minivan driver, Charles Powell, 23, of Colebrook, were also injured.

Farmington, Maine police said an accident reconstructionist has determined that the truck driver, Charles Willey, 53, of Dexter, was going at least 41 mph in a 30-mph zone on a sharp curve where the crash took place.

Police said that once the accident report is completed, it'll be submitted it to the district attorney's office.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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