A tree fell on a pickup traveling on a highway along the Mississippi River in extreme southeastern Minnesota, killing the driver and injuring his wife and teenage daughter, authorities said.

The freak accident occurred about 8:40 a.m. Saturday on Hwy. 26, roughly 10 miles south of Brownsville in Houston County, according to the State Patrol.

Killed was a 50-year-old man who lived in West Salem,Wis., about 35 miles northeast of where the freak accident occurred, the patrol added.

His 51-year-old wife and his 16-year-old daughter were hospitalized in La Crosse, Wis. Both were expected to recover from their injuries, the patrol said.

The pickup was heading south, when it came around a curve just south of Nuemann Road and "a tree fell from the west side of the bluff [onto] the windshield/roof of the vehicle," the patrol said in a statement.

The victims' identities were expected to be released Sunday.

Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482