A 19-year-old St. Paul man died Thursday in a freakish accident on the Mendota Bridge, according to the Minnesota State Patrol.
The man was headed east on the Hwy. 55 bridge, which spans the Minnesota River between Fort Snelling and Mendota Heights, when a tire on his car blew out about 5:30 p.m. When he tried to jump out of the moving car, his foot got caught. He was run over by his own vehicle.
The bridge's eastbound lanes were closed for some time as the patrol investigated.
Earlier Thursday, a 56-year-old man from St. Peter, Minn., died in a one-car accident in Blue Earth County, the patrol said. His vehicle was headed north on Hwy. 169 near W. Lind Street just after 9 a.m. when it veered off the road into a median and struck a guardrail. The patrol said the man may have suffered a medical incident.
Neither crash victim has been identified, pending notification of relatives.
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