SHAPLEIGH (AP) – A University of New Hampshire graduate whose parents live in this southern Maine town has died in a truck accident while serving with the Army’s 10th Mountain Division in northern Afghanistan.

The parents of 1st Lt. Benjamin Keating were notified Sunday night of their son’s death.

Elizabeth Keating said her son was riding at night from a remote outpost to his base in Nuristan province when his truck crashed after either hitting something in the road or swerving to avoid it.

“It’s pretty vague,” she said. “We still don’t have the full story.”

Troops routinely drive after dark without lights on because vehicles on that road had come under attack, said Keating’s mother, who is senior pastor at the First Baptist Church of Springvale.

Keating graduated magna cum laude from UNH in 2004 with a degree in history and classics. He took ROTC and entered the Army directly after college, beginning his tour in Afghanistan last February.

Keating’s father and sister are attorneys, and his mother said he planned to go to law school when he finished his four years of active duty.

He was with the 3rd Squadron of the 71st Cavalry, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, of the 10th Mountain Division, based in Fort Drum, N.Y.

Keating served as chairman of the College Republicans while at UNH, and also was a member of the Shapleigh Planning Board while in college.