By ELIZABETH IZZO

Adirondack Daily Enterprise

WILMINGTON — Two people died and three others were airlifted to area hospitals after a head-on collision Saturday morning in the Wilmington Notch, on state Route 86 between Lake Placid and Wilmington.

New York State Police confirmed that two people were killed in the head-on collision and said they are investigating.

Essex County Coroner Frank Whitelaw said the drivers of the two vehicles — 61-year-old Rene Castonguay, whose vehicle had a Quebec license plate, and 50-year-old Kevin Maras of Grand Island, near Buffalo — were both pronounced dead at the scene at 10:25 a.m.

Three passengers in Maras’ Ford Flex SUV were airlifted to different hospitals, Whitelaw said.

The collision happened around 9 a.m. Saturday, Whitelaw said. Castonguay was driving west on state Route 86, toward Lake Placid, in a Dodge Avenger, and Maras was traveling east.

Route 86 between River Road and Fox Farm Road was temporarily closed due to the crash, NBC5 reported Saturday. Officials rerouted drivers, and the road had reopened by 4 p.m.

The coroner said autopsies are scheduled for both drivers Monday at Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital in Plattsburgh.

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