Three people died last night after two cars collided on U.S. 1 in Fallston, near the border of Harford and Baltimore counties, state police reported.

The cars were so badly damaged that police said they were having trouble determining the direction each had been traveling before the impact.

Police said the cars -- a 2000 Chrysler and 1996 Chevrolet Cavalier -- collided about 7:40 p.m. after one of them crossed the center line on the highway near Reckord Road, less than a mile north of the border in Harford County.

A man and a woman in one car were pronounced dead at the scene, while the third victim, a man in the second vehicle, died later at Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore, police said.

The victims' names were withheld pending notification of family members, and the accident remained under investigation by a state police crash team.