By Jo McMullen / KVSC reporter

Three people died in a crash just west of Willmar Thursday night.

The State Patrol is reporting the accident happened just before 6 p.m. on Highway 40 and Kandiyohi County Road 7 when a semi-truck and an SUV collided in the intersection. The semi truck was heading east on Highway 40 and the SUV was heading north on County Road 7 when they crashed.

Killed in the accident were the driver of the SUV, 41-year-old Justin Ecker from Lee Summit, Missouri and two passengers, 64-year-old Carol Ecker of Kansas City, Missouri and 39-year-old Jonathan Ecker of Rosendale, Missouri. Another female passenger from Missouri in the SUV received life-threatening injuries and was taken to the St. Cloud Hospital.

The driver of the semi-truck, 57-year-old Ralph Enderle from Raymond, Minnesota was taken to Rice Memorial Hospital in Willmar with non-life threatening injuries.

The State Patrol says the road conditions were dry at the time of the accident and two passengers in the SUV were not wearing a seat belt at the time of collision.