At least one person died Sunday afternoon when a silver SUV spun off eastbound Interstate 94 and onto the grassy side of the interstate near W. Broadway Avenue in Minneapolis.

It wasn't clear whether other people were in the car when it crashed. The State Patrol said it would release more information later Sunday.

The crumpled vehicle sat on the grass-covered area on the side of the interstate, a couple hundred feet from the W. Broadway overpass and the on-ramp to I-94. The vehicle apparently hit a tree, which lay nearby. A pink spray-painted line marked the path of the vehicle as it left the road.

A firefighter said he had been called to retrieve the black box from the SUV.

As many as 100 people, plus others in a rotating line of cars, stood gawking along the on-ramp and the overpass.

Teresa Hernandez said she was on her way to northeast Minneapolis with her four children in the car when she pulled over to see what was going on. She said sadness over the loss of life had prompted her to stop.

As she headed to Taco Bell, Cameron Terrell said she felt compelled to stop because of all the "commotion, chaos."

"We saw everybody line up and we came over to see, because we've got a lot of family members over here [in north Minneapolis]," Terrell said.

Erin Adler • 612-673-1781