One man was killed and another critically injured in a four-vehicle crash that closed southbound Route 1 at Argos Corner near Milford for hours July 11.

The crash happened at 7:33 a.m. when a Chevrolet Tahoe traveling northbound on Route 1 approaching Bakerfield Road tried to negotiate a gradual curve in the road but entered the center median, police said. The Tahoe rotated counterclockwise and then entered the southbound lanes of Route 1 into the path of a Chrysler Town and Country minivan, striking the minivan. Police said the impact caused the Tahoe’s engine to separate from the vehicle.

After the collision between the Tahoe and minivan, police said, a Subaru Forester traveling southbound struck the rear of the minivan. A Chrysler 200 traveling behind the Subaru hit the Tahoe’s detached engine, police said.

The driver of the minivan, Peter Surdo, 71, of Kennett Square, Pa., was pronounced dead at the scene. 

The driver of the Tahoe, a Frederica man, 31, was taken to an area hospital with critical injuries. The driver of the Forester, a 36-year-old woman from Doylestown, Pa., was taken to an area hospital with nonlife-threatening injuries, and the driver of the 200, a 34-year-old Dover woman, was not injured.

Southbound traffic was rerouted to Route 30, and the southbound lanes of Route 1 at Argos Corner were closed for about four hours while the scene was investigated.