(KAIR)--Two Topeka men are dead, but a Hoyt resident escaped serious injury, following a two vehicle, head-on crash Monday afternoon in Shawnee County, near the Jefferson County line.

Dead are 61-year-old Thomas Mika and 73-year-old Gerald Counter who were killed when their vehicles crashed head-on, 2-miles north of U.S. 24, on K-4 Highway.

Riding with Counter was 58-year-old Daniel Starkweather, of Hoyt, who suffered what the Kansas Highway Patrol calls a “suspected minor injury.” He was transported to Topeka’s Stormont Vail for treatment of his injuries.

The fatal crash happened around 3:40 Monday afternoon.

According to the KHP, Mika’s northbound pickup truck left the roadway to the right, over corrected, and re-entered the roadway before crossing left of center and crashing head-on into Counter’s southbound SUV.

The KHP report shows that Mika was the only one not buckled up at the time of the fatal crash.