Semi-pickup crash near Northfield kills man, 87, closes Hwy. 19 for six hours

February 14, 2015 at 3:06PM

An 87-year-old man behind the wheel of a pickup truck Friday near Northfield died in a head-on crash with a semitrailer truck, continuing a deadly month on Minnesota roads.

The accident happened about 2:40 p.m. Friday at the intersection of Hwy. 19 and Decker Avenue. It closed the highway west of Northfield in both directions for about six hours, according to a MnDOT tweet.

Dick H, Morgan of Northfield was one of two people in the pickup, which was headed west on Hwy. 19 before hitting the eastbound semi.

Injured were the pickup's passenger, Joann Morgan, 81, and the semi's 35-year-old driver, David S. Thompson from Farmington, according to the State Patrol. They were taken to Northfield Hospital, Joann Morgan with serious injuries and Thompson with injuries that weren't considered life-threatening, the patrol said.

In the first 10 days of February, 13 people on state roads had died, the Department of Public Safety said earlier in the week. That was more than the nine killed on Minnesota roads in all of January.

VINCE TUSS

about the writer

about the writer

Vince Tuss

Night home-page producer

Vince Tuss is a producer working on the StarTribune.com home page most evenings. Before that, he was a copy editor and a night police reporter.

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