GREENE — An employee transporting a body to a Winthrop funeral home was killed Monday night when the hearse he was driving was struck from behind by a sport utility vehicle on Route 202 in Greene.

Richard Charest, 59, of Winthrop, an employee of Knowlton and Hewins Funeral Home, died at the scene about 6 p.m., Maine State Police said in a statement.

Troopers said the hearse – a minivan – was struck from behind by a Hummer at the crest of a hill on Route 202, near the intersection of Daggett Hill Road. The Hummer was operated by Donald Asselin, 58, of Sabattus. Asselin received minor injuries but did not require immediate medical attention.

The impact drove the hearse several hundred feet off the road, down an embankment and into a stand of trees. Both Charest and the body he was transporting remained inside the Ford Flex minivan, state police said.

Traffic at the crash site was detoured for about three hours as troopers investigated the crash.

State police ask that anyone who witnessed the crash call the dispatch center in Gray at 657-3030.


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