A driver heading the wrong way on Interstate 94 in western Wisconsin collided head-on with another vehicle in Dunn County late Thursday afternoon, setting that car on fire and killing its three occupants, the Wisconsin State Patrol said.
Killed were driver Adam G. Kendhammer, 32, and his passengers, Jeremy A. Berchem, 27, and Bryan E. Rudell, 29, all from Minneapolis. The wrong-way driver, Serghei Kundilovski, 36, from California, suffered life-threatening injuries.
Kendhammer, Berchem and Rudell were a trio of friends on a trip to Chicago. There was an outpouring of grief on their social media pages on Friday.
Several motorists called police to report that a black car had crossed the median and was headed west in the eastbound lanes at high speed moments before the fiery crash at 5:44 p.m. between Baldwin and Menomonie, the patrol said.
The black car, a Mitsubishi driven by Kundilovski, struck an eastbound gray 2015 Kia carrying the three Minnesotans, the patrol said. All three victims died at the scene. Kundilovski was airlifted to a hospital with critical injuries, the patrol said.
The crash is being investigated by the Wisconsin State Patrol and the Dunn County Sheriff's Office.
