Man dead after 2-vehicle highway crash near Castor, Alta.

Highway 12 and Township Road 380 was closed Wednesday afternoon due to a serious collision. (Google Street View)

A man from Red Deer is dead after the vehicle he was driving crashed with a truck northwest of the town of Castor in east-central Alberta.

RCMP said in a media release Wednesday evening that early findings by investigators suggest a truck heading eastbound on Highway 12 immediately northwest of Castor went into oncoming traffic and collided with a sport utility vehicle (SUV).

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The 79-year-old man driving the SUV died at the scene, say police, while his female passenger and the man driving the truck were taken by STARS air ambulance to hospital with serious injuries.

The highway, which was closed in both directions early Wednesday afternoon between Castor and Township Road 380, reopened in the evening.

Castor is about 130 kilometres east of Red Deer.