A man from China died Monday afternoon following a head-on crash on state Route 3 near the Ritch Road intersection.

Ryan Page, 48, of China was driving a Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck that collided head-on with a Ford F-650 commercial motor vehicle operated by Douglas Boivin, 64, of Jay, said Shannon Moss, spokeswoman for the Maine Department of Public Safety.

Moss said Page died and Boivin was not injured in the crash, which occurred around 3:40 p.m.

“The initial investigation indicates the operator of the pickup truck crossed the center line,” she said. “The commercial motor vehicle operator steered to the right in an attempt to avoid the pickup truck but was unable to completely avoid it. Ryan Page succumbed to his injuries at the scene.”

Officials of the Maine State Police Central Field Troop responded to the scene, where Moss said a secondary crash occurred as a third vehicle swerved to avoid the pickup truck.

The pickup truck had come to rest in the roadway and struck a guardrail, she said. “The driver reported minor injuries.”

The crash remains under investigation, Moss said, and the State Police Traffic Safety Unit as well as Commercial Motor Vehicle Unit assisted troopers at the scene. Vassalboro Fire and Rescue, Augusta Fire and Rescue and Delta Ambulance also assisted, she said.

Vassalboro fire Chief Walker Thompson said Tuesday that Route 3 was closed for about four hours after the crash. Eastbound traffic was diverted to Mudget Hill and Stone roads and then back to Route 3. Vehicles traveling west were diverted to Legion Park and Stone roads.

Fire officials were working at the scene of a separate, unrelated crash on Route 3 near the China/Vassalboro town line when the crash near Ritch Road occurred, said Thompson, who added they were at the second crash within four to five minutes.

In the first crash, which Thompson described as “head-on style,” minor injuries were reported.

Firefighters remained at the scene of the fatal crash until 9:40 p.m. Monday, Thompson said. The State Department of Transportation helped close the road between Mudget Hill, Stone and Legion Park roads, he said.

Asked if he knew Page, Thompson said he did.

“A very nice man, and just very devastating, really,” he said. “Very sad, and our thoughts are with the family. Everybody did everything that they could.”