AUBURN — The driver of a minivan was seriously injured Thursday night when the vehicle slammed into the side of a tractor-trailer on Kittyhawk Avenue.

Police and rescue crews responded to the crash near the intersection of Kittyhawk and First Flight Drive at about 6:15 p.m. The first police officer to arrive found both vehicles in the roadway and the driver of the minivan trapped inside the vehicle.

Fire and rescue crews tore the doors and part of the roof from the vehicle to free the victim, who was taken to Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston with what were believed to be life-threatening injuries.

On Friday, police identified the driver of the minivan as 43-year-old Abdikadir Mohamed of Lewiston. He was alone in the van when he crashed.

It was unknown what caused the wreck. It appeared the driver of the Hartt Transportation tractor-trailer, identified as Brian Blanchard, 32, of Sabattus, was pulling from a lot onto Kittyhawk Avenue when the minivan, headed toward Washington Street, struck the truck with enough force to punch a hole in the side of the rig.

No skid marks could be seen at the accident scene.

The driver of another tractor-trailer, uninvolved in the wreck, said he drove up on the scene a short time after the vehicles crashed. He said the driver of a third vehicle had pulled to the side of the road and flashed his lights to warn oncoming motorists of the wreck. Beyond that, he did not know what led to the collision.

A Lewiston police officer went to the scene to assist with a reconstruction. The Maine State Police Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Division was also joining the investigation because of the tractor-trailer involved.