RANGELEY – An 18-year-old Durham man was killed early Friday after his snowmobile hit a peninsula on Haley Pond and launched off a brush pile into a tree.
Douglas White was catapulted over the snowmobile and struck the tree about 9 feet to 10 feet from the ground, Lt. Nat Berry of the Maine Warden Service said Friday.
It appeared he died instantly of massive head injuries, Berry said.
White, who has family in Rangeley, was wearing a helmet at the time of the crash, the lieutenant said.
The pond is located off Route 4.
Berry said he received a call about 4 a.m. notifying him that several wardens were on their way to a fatal snowmobile accident, which happened about 3 a.m.
White was driving a Polaris 700. It appeared he got somewhat disoriented and was headed toward a peninsula. Because of the speed White was traveling when he hit the land and then the brush pile, the machine was launched into a white birch tree, Berry said.
White had been riding with at least three other people on two machines, he said.
It was the fourth death from a snowmobile accident this season.
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