Fair / 55° F
Two accidents cause injuries along I-94
Published 11:05am Monday, January 23, 2012The Minnesota State Patrol had its hands full on Interstate Highway 94 east of Rothsay on Sunday, dealing with two injury accidents in the span of 15 minutes.
The first crash happened at 11:25 a.m., when two trucks were traveling east on the road, the State Patrol reported. One of the trucks, driven by Sara Thronsedt, 62, of Fergus Falls, lost control and slid sideways into the path of the second truck, driven by David Partel, 34, of Hallandale, Fla.
Partel drove his truck into the ditch to avoid a crash, eventually ending up facing east in the westbound lanes. The road was closed for about 30 minutes to deal with the accident.
Partel was uninjured, but Thronsedt received a minor injury in the course of losing control of the truck.
Rothsay rescue was among the first responders to the accident.
Then, around 11:40 a.m., Luke Niekamp, 27, of Fargo, was driving west on I-94 in the same area. Traffic had slowed because of the previous crash, and Niekamp lost control, hitting a parked, unoccupied Rothsay fire truck.
Niekamp’s wife, Jennifer, 33, received non-life threatening injuries. She and Thronsedt were treated at Lake Region Hospital.
Seems like that section of I94 has many accidents – must get especially slippery when it snows…