Three Jamesport, Mo., residents were killed in a two-vehicle accident Tuesday night that sent four others by ambulance and LifeFlight helicopters to area hospitals, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

The accident occurred when a 1969 grain truck driven by David Leeper of Gallatin, Mo., lost the left rear tandem of his vehicle. Mr. Leeper, 51, and another vehicle, a 2001 Dodge minivan driven by Maria Hostetler, 40, of Jamesport, were both traveling east on Missouri Highway 6 approaching Route V, four miles west of Jamesport.

Mr. Leeper maintained control of his disabled vehicle and steered it onto the shoulder. But the minivan containing five occupants struck one of the tire and wheel combinations lying in the road. The minivan skidded in a clockwise motion and traveled back across the center line and eventually tipped and was in the process of turning over onto its side when it struck the grain truck.

Ms. Hostetler, Chester Gingerich, 48, and Perry Gingerich, 16, were all pronounced dead at the scene by the Daviess County coroner. Mr. Leeper was transported by ambulance to Cameron Regional Medical Center with minor injuries. Calvin Beechy, 25, a passenger in the minivan, was taken by ambulance to the Cameron Hospital with moderate injuries but was later taken by medical helicopter to KU Medical Center in critical but stable condition, according to a nursing supervisor at Cameron

Steven Gingerich, 20, a passenger in the minivan, was take by private vehicle to Wright Memorial Hospital in Trenton, Mo., with moderate injuries and Wilma Gingerich, 46, another passenger in the minivan, was flown to North Kansas City Hospital. An admitting supervisor at the hospital said Ms. Gingerich was in critical condition in the facility's Intensive Care Unit.