Three people died last night when a Ford pickup truck collided with a Ford van at U.S. 40 and Mechanics Valley Road in North East, Cecil County, state police said.

The driver of the van and two passengers in the pickup truck were pronounced dead at the scene shortly after 10 p.m., said state police Sgt. Charles Pertain of the North East barracks. The driver of the truck was flown by helicopter to Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore, Pertain said.

Pertain said that it appeared one vehicle had entered the intersection without having the right of way and broadsided the other but that investigators had not finished studying the accident.

The identities of the victims were not immediately available.

Pub Date: 3/08/99