MARION COUNTY, IL — A motorcycle crash on Route 161 near Moonglow Road Tuesday night resulted in two people being taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries.

According to the Illinois State Police, around 5:25 p.m. Tuesday, 18-year-old Melvyn Creps of Salem was traveling eastbound on Illinois Route 161 when he applied the rear brake too hard and lost control of his motorcycle.

The motorcycle then left the right side of the road, ejecting both Creps and his 20-year-old passenger Sara Mansker of Centralia.

Creps and Mansker were transported to an area hospital by ambulance and later airlifted by helicopter to a St. Louis hospital for treatment.

Crash reports say neither Creps nor Mansker were wearing a helmet.

Creps has been cited for driver’s license classification violation, operating an uninsured vehicle and failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident.