Wrong-Way Pickup Driver Dies After Crashing into FedEx Semi
A still image from submitted video of the crash
The driver of a Dodge Ram 1500 pickup died after crashing head-on into a FedEx Freightliner semi on Interstate 94 early Saturday morning in Afton, authorities say.
The State Patrol says the pickup driver was westbound in the eastbound lanes of I-94 around 3:30 a.m., near the Manning Ave. overpass. The pickup struck the semi head-on and both vehicles erupted in flames.
Submitted video to MN CRIME shows just after the impact, with flames visible coming from the front of the Freightliner. The Patrol says the driver of the Freightliner, Thomas L. Roberts, 69, of Eau Claire, Wisc., was pulled from the vehicle and was transported to Regions Hospital in Saint Paul with injuries considered to be not life-threatening.
The driver of the pickup was trapped inside and died at the scene. The Ramsey County Medical Examiner's Office is working to positively identify the Dodge Ram driver. Roads were dry at the time of the crash and an autopsy may provide more details on if impairment of the Dodge Ram driver played a factor.
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