State Patrol: Light Snow On Minnesota Roads Sunday Leads To 2 Deaths, 35 Injuries
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Light snow fell across Minnesota Sunday, causing treacherous and deadly road conditions.
The Minnesota State Patrol says there were 217 crashes between 1 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Two of those crashes resulted in fatalities, including one in Eagan and another in Winona County. Two people were also serious hurt in Sunday's crashes, including a man in Bloomington and another victim in Anoka County.
The state patrol says a teenager was killed late Sunday afternoon in a crash in Eagan. It happened at about 4:19 p.m. at the intersection of Highway 55 and Lone Oak Road. A Ford pickup truck with two adults and two teenagers inside was traveling westbound on Hwy. 55 when the driver lost control. The truck rolled into the median, causing a 17-year-old passenger to be ejected and die. Investigators say the victim was the only person in the truck who was not wearing their seat belt.
The state patrol also says both sides of Interstate 35W in Bloomington were closed early Sunday evening due to a three-vehicle crash. Investigators say a Jeep Liberty was stalled under the 90th Street Bridge on the interstate's southbound side when it was clipped by a Ford Escape at about 4:44 p.m. The driver of the Liberty exited their vehicle, and then was struck by a fast-moving Chevrolet Tahoe, which also slammed into the Liberty. The impact pushed both vehicles to the right side of the southbound lanes, sideswiping a Ford F150 in the process.
The driver of the Liberty, 56-year-old Richard David Bethune of Minneapolis, suffered life-threatening injuries from the crash. The driver of the Tahoe, 18-year-old Ava Leigh Scott of Coon Rapids, suffered non-life threatening injuries. The state patrol says Scott and her two passengers -- a 17-year-old girl and a 10-year-old boy -- were not wearing seat belts. The boy was also injured. The passengers of the Ford Escape and Ford F150 were wearing their seat belts and were unharmed.
Both sides of the interstate were closed for more than a half hour, with officials announcing just before 6 p.m. that a single lane of southbound I-35W had been reopened.