TOWNSHIP E – A motorcyclist was killed Saturday morning during a bike rally in memory of a West Paris man who died last year in a motorcycle accident.

The motorcycle collided with a van at 11:32 a.m. on Route 17 in Township E, about 15 miles north of Rumford, according to the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department. Officials at the department, which investigated the accident, declined to confirm the motorcyclist’s identity, pending family notification.

Details surrounding the accident remain under investigation, said Franklin County Sheriff Dennis Pike.

The man riding the motorcycle was a participant in the rally, called the Skunk Run, named for Sandon “Skunk” Morgan, who died in an accident in Buckfield in April 2003, Pike said.

Proceeds from the event fund a scholarship for a student graduating from Telstar Regional High School, Morgan’s alma mater.

Roughly 280 motorcycles left Locke Mills at 10 a.m. Saturday, said Morgan’s father-in-law Mark Thomas of Oxford, an event organizer.

Thomas, who said he did not witness the crash, said the accident was an unfortunate coincidence and did not happen because of the rally.

Pike said it was unknown as of Saturday evening whether the van was involved in the event.

Maine State Police assisted with traffic control and accident reconstruction, Pike said. The officer who investigated the accident is expected to release more information today, he said.