Icy roads contribute to 3 deaths in crashes

Snow and icy roads are to blame for series of overnight accidents in the metro are Friday and Saturday that left three people dead and several others hurt.

An attempt to help a driver whose car skidded into a ditch on snowy Interstate 94 at Hwy. 101 in Rogers around 10 p.m. Friday apparently triggered an accident that killed two people and injured three, according to the State Patrol.

A driver was in the left lane of westbound I-94 when he lost control of his car while making a lane change and slid into ditch along the right side of the highway.

The driver and passengers in a second vehicle stopped to assist by pulling off onto the right shoulder of the road.

A sport-utility vehicle driven by Juan A. Mendez-Gutierrez, 26, rear-ended the second car and spun into the ditch, smashing into the first car.

Mendez-Gutierrez and a 20-year-old passenger were killed. The passenger's name has not been released.

The other eight people involved escaped injury or suffered only non-life-threatening injuries, the State Patrol said.

The driver was the only one in the vehicle. No other information about the crash was available.

The slick roads were the result of a storm Friday that dropped up to 2 inches of snow in some areas.

St. Francis reported 2 inches of snow, Chanhassen 1.8 inches, Minneapolis 1.7 inches, St. Paul, 1.5 inches, and 1 inch was reported in Hastings, Delano, Mankato and Forest Lake.

Expect more snow to fall after noon today, with a high near 18 degrees. Windchill is expected to drop temperatures between zero and 10 below zero. Expect a 30 percent chance of snow Monday, with a high near 27.