CLINTON COUNTY — A three-vehicle head-on collision Saturday on Route 161 injured five people from Centralia while it claimed the life of a Germantown man.

According to the Clinton County Sheriff’s Office, just before 1 p.m. Saturday, 50-year-old Michael Gebke of Germantown was traveling on Route 161 at Wilkin Bridge just east of Germantown when he apparently crossed the centerline and struck head-on an SUV being driven by 69-year-old Agnus Shrage of Breese.

Gebke’s pickup truck then sideswiped an SUV being driven by 33-year-old Anna Qualls of Centralia head-on.

Gebke and Qualls were both airlifted from the scene to St. Louis University Hospital where Gebke later died. Four passengers in the Qualls vehicle —  38-year-old Chad Qualls, 66-year-old Charles Qualls, a 12-year-old boy and a 7-year-old girl — were transported to St. Joseph Hospital in Breese.

Shrage was also transported to St. Joseph.

Germantown firefighters responding to the scene extricated both Gebke and Anna Qualls from their vehicles.