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Bus crash on I-94
Originally published 07:24 p.m., March 3, 2009
Updated 09:57 a.m., March 4, 2009
A bus trip turned tragic Tuesday for nine young men and women from Ontario when a small bus they were traveling in overturned on an icy Interstate 94 about one mile west of the Rothsay exit.
One person was airlifted from the scene by a MeritCare air ambulance while three other passengers were transported to MeritCare Hospital in Fargo by Barnesville Ambulance crews.
The group isa member of a non-profit organization that speaks in high schools, 20-year-old crash victim Jenna Lane of Hamilton, Ontario told The Journal this morning.
“We are alive and well,” Lane said.
We don’t have a phone. it was in the crash. We don’t have much,” Lane said.
The Minnesota State Patrol was called to the accident scene at 3:44 p.m. Tuesday where the agency found the overturned 2001 International van on its side in the center median of I-94.
According to the State Patrol, the vehicle was traveling westbound towards Fargo when it ran off the road and rolled in the center median.
The accident closed off the westbound lane of I-94 and vehicles were backed up for miles as crews from the State Patrol, Wilkin County Sheriff’s Department, Barnesville Ambulance and Rothsay Fire and Rescue worked to extricated trapped passengers from the vehicle.
The driver of the vehicle was 20-year-old Jamie Potapoff of Saskatoon, Ontario. He was uninjured in the crash. Also uninjured were: Lindsay Bishop, 22, Hamilton, Ont.; Adam Churchman, 27, Dundas, Ont.; Bobby Jaques, 22, Providence, Ont.; and Robert Raco, 19, Windsor, Ont.
The most seriously injured was 20-year-old Jenna Lane of Hamilton, Ont. Lane was airlifted from the scene by the LifeFlight helicopter to MeritCare Hospital in Fargo with serious but non-life-threatening injuries, the State Patrol stated.
Also injured and taken by ambulance to MeritCare were Rachelle Gibbs, 21, Dunville, Ont.; Brendan Friel, 19, Windsor, Ont.; and Austen Renaud, 19, of LaSalle, Ont.
The vehicle was totaled and towed to Beyers Towing in Fergus Falls. It was not known where the nine people were travelling from or where their destination was.
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