MASARDIS (AP) – A truck driver died Wednesday after failing to stop at a railroad crossing and colliding with a passing freight train, state police said.

John Hughes, 69, of Biddeford, was driving a tractor-trailer flatbed truck carrying lumber south on Route 11, said Sgt. Tom Pelletier with the Maine State Police.

Hughes swerved into the northbound lane to avoid two vehicles that had stopped at the railroad crossing, and struck the train broadside about 11:30 a.m., Pelletier said. The warning lights and gate at the crossing were working, he said.

Hughes died at the scene.

Route 11 was closed until 7 p.m.