MARION COUNTY — A horse/vehicle crash Tuesday morning on Route 161 Extension just west of Iuka Road has claimed the life of a local person.

According to Marion County Coroner Troy Cannon, 51-year-old Jeff Stuber was pronounced dead at the scene at 6 a.m. Cannon says that an eastbound passenger car driven by 78-year-old Ronald Stuber, of rural Iuka, struck a large horse in the roadway just before dawn.

The impact of the animal caused fatal injuries to Stuber’s passenger, his son Jeffery W. Stuber, also of rural Iuka. The driver, elder Mr. Stuber, sustained minor injuries in the crash and was taken to Salem Township Hospital where he was treated and released.

Cannon says Jeff Stuber appears to have died instantly from multiple blunt force trauma injuries, and estimates the mature horse weighed approximately 1,500 lbs.

The Marion County Sheriff’s Department, Marion County EMS, and Iuka Fire all assisted at the scene.