A western Minnesota driver was killed after being hit from behind by a second car and pushed in front of a semitrailer truck, the State Patrol said Wednesday.

The crash occurred about 8:15 p.m. Tuesday on Hwy. 12 in Swift County, about 20 miles west of Willmar, the State Patrol said.

Killed was Kayla M. Wrobleski, 19, of nearby De Graff.

According to the patrol:

The woman's car on eastbound Hwy. 12 was about to turn left onto 30th Street, when she was hit from behind by a car driven by Thomas Kolbe, 37, of Sleepy Eye, Minn. The force sent the woman's car into the path of a westbound semi.

Kolbe and his passenger, 8-year-old son Jaxon, suffered noncritical injuries and were taken to a hospital in Benson for treatment. The semi driver, Jack Witthuhn, 65, of Wadena, Minn., was not hurt.

The State Patrol said it was investigating why the one car struck the other from behind.

Paul Walsh