Two people are dead are a fiery three-vehicle, head-on crash early Friday morning west of Polo, Missouri on Route-116.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol now identifies the victims as 21-year-old Mathew Tucker of Lathrop and 28-year-old Keith Staus of Polo.

A  third motorist was treated for injuries described by authorities as minor.

Investigators say Tucker’s pickup truck crossed the center line and clipped one vehicle before ramming a 1989 Chevrolet driven by Staus vehicle head-on.  The Chevy rolled off the highway onto its top and caught fire.

The driver of the second vehicle Rory Hicks, 52, of Cowgill, swerved onto the shoulder in an to avoid impact that almost succeeded.  The left front of each vehicle collided, sending Hicks’ Mercury Marquis spinning around, but it remained on its wheels.

The crash closed Highway 111 between Boulder Road and Denver Road for nearly six hours.  According to MoDOT officials, the highway reopened just before 10:45 a.m. Friday.

Officials say these were the second and third traffic fatalities this month in Troop-H, where there have now been nine fatalities this year.