POLAND -- Six people were dead on Christmas Eve after two cars collided on Poland Road.

Police said four people died on impact or shortly after the 12:15 a.m. collision on a stretch of Route 122 between Verrill and Bishop roads.

A fifth person died at Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston an hour after the head-on collision, police said. The sixth victim died hours later at the hospital.

Police have identified the driver of a Nissan Altima involved in the wreck as 20-year-old Michael Cournoyer of Auburn.

The passengers in Cournoyer’s vehicle were identified as 20-year-old Jacob Roy of Lewiston, 19-year-old Robert Bruce of Auburn, and 16-year-old Matthew Manley of Lewiston.

That car collided with a Dodge Spirit driven Steven Walton, 27, of Poland, police said. Riding in his car was Walton's 26-year-old girlfriend, Laura Caron, of Poland.

Their dog, a pitbull, also died in the wreck.

Police believe one of the cars skidded out of control on black ice and slid into the path of the oncoming vehicle.

The cars collided after a period of rain that froze to the roadway, creating conditions that were slick and deceiving, police said.

Deputies from the Cumberland County Sheriff's Office were called in to assist with the investigation. Police went back to the crash scene at about 1 p.m. and finished with the reconstruction more than two hours later.

The investigation was continuing Sunday night.

"As a standard protocol, alcohol tests will be performed on the two operators as part of the investigation," ASO Detective William Gagne said. "It is still too early to rule on the cause and a final determination may take several weeks to months."

Friends of the victims Sunday afternoon were making hasty arrangements to hold vigils for the deceased.

Police described the Sunday morning crash as one of the worst in recent memory. It was being compared to the October 1993 crash in which four area teenagers were killed and one seriously injured when a tractor trailer drifted into the breakdown lane and plowed into the car occupied by the teens.