4 dead after semitruck slams into stopped traffic in Minnesota

2 adults, 2 children killed in multivehicle crash

Four people, including two children, are dead after a crash in Minnesota involving a semitruck in a construction zone. (Photo: Jaromir Chalabala/Shutterstock)

Four people, including two children, are dead after a crash in Minnesota involving a semitruck in a construction zone.

The five-vehicle crash, which occurred Wednesday on U.S. Highway 2 near Nelson Road in Arrowhead Township, killed Blackduck residents Vincent Louis Dow, 65; Bonnie Mae Dow, 66; Hope Mae Oakgrove, 9; and Charlotte White, 9. 

Authorities said a GMC Acadia, Ford Escape, Mack Semi and Honda Pilot were stopped in traffic due to construction when a 2009 International 9900 semitruck, traveling at highway speeds, crashed into them. The four people killed were in the Honda. Some of those in the other vehicles suffered minor injuries.

The driver of the International 9900, a 63-year-old Grand Rapids man, suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

Local television station Northern News Now reported that a judge approved a search warrant to obtain a blood sample from the semitruck driver. An officer said the driver had a slow reaction time and slow motor movement and that he appeared groggy and lethargic while hospitalized, the station reported. 

It did not appear that any charges had been filed in the deadly crash as of Monday. Authorities said in a preliminary report that it is unclear if alcohol was a factor in the crash.

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