A head-on crash just south of the Twin Cities before sunrise left one driver dead and the other motorist severely injured, authorities said.

The collision occurred about 6:15 a.m. Sunday on Hwy. 61 at County Road 18 in Welch Township, the State Patrol said.

Nathan B. Hase, 35, of Red Wing, was heading east on Hwy. 61 when he collided with a westbound SUV driven by Aaron P. Ferguson, 70, of Marion, Iowa, the patrol said.

Hase did not survive his injuries; Ferguson was taken by air ambulance to a hospital in Rochester with critical injuries.

Paul Walsh