First Week of November on Minnesota Roads Was a Deadly One

Originally published at 6:44 a.m. November 5, 2021. Updated at 12:11 p.m. November 5, 2021.

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(KNSI) — It has been a deadly week on Minnesota roads, according to the state patrol.

Since Monday, there have been at least five fatal crashes around the state, three on Wednesday alone.

The first happened on Wednesday morning in Windom Township in southern Minnesota. Just before noon, the Minnesota State Patrol says 53-year-old Dean Allen Sinnwell of Rochester was driving a garbage truck west on Interstate 90 at milepost 183 when Sinnwell drove into the median. The truck rolled, coming to a rest on the south side of the eastbound lanes. They say Sinnwell was not wearing his seatbelt.

The second happened Wednesday afternoon in Crow Wing County. Crash investigators say about 3:30, 28-year-old Tyler Bryan Walsh was riding a Yamaha sportbike east on Highway 210 when he crashed with a Ford Focus, driven by a 30-year-old Brainerd woman going west on 210. Investigators say she made a left turn onto 10th Avenue Southeast in Brainerd. The two crashed in the intersection, killing Walsh. Police say Walsh was wearing a helmet.

Wednesday evening, a 75-year-old Willmar woman died when the vehicle she was riding in collided with a semi, driven by a 19-year-old Freeport man. The state patrol says Myran Isse Jama was in an SUV driven by a 27-year-old woman from Willmar and heading west on Renville County Road 11 in Winfield Township. The semi was going north on Highway 71 when they crashed in the intersection. Investigators say it’s not clear if Jama was wearing a seatbelt.

Thursday morning, the state patrol says a 69-year-old man from Humboldt, South Dakota, was killed in a crash in Pipestone County in far southwestern Minnesota. Police say about 10:30; the man was driving his semi north on Highway 23 when it crashed with another semi driven by a 25-year-old man from Ward, South Dakota. He was not hurt. The name of the driver who died has not yet been released.

Thursday night, the state patrol says three people died when a GMC Yukon was t-boned by a Chevy Uplander on Highway 371 north of Backus. The driver of the GMC, 55-year-old Jeffrey Wertish of Ellendale, and a passenger, 59-year-old Robert Nelson from Carver were killed. The driver of the Uplander, 34-year-old Lenny Steffen from Backus was also killed. The impact sent both vehicles into the ditch on the eastbound side of the intersection. Neither Wertish nor Steffen were wearing their seatbelts.

Nearly 400 people have died in crashes on Minnesota roads this year, putting the state on pace for the highest number of fatalities on record in more than ten years.

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