A father and son died Friday morning in a head-on crash on a two-lane highway in southern Minnesota, according to the Minnesota State Patrol.
Karl D. Erickson, 43, of Austin, Minn., and his 9-year-old son, Elijah, were fatally injured when their northbound van crossed the centerline on Hwy. 218 in Steele County about 6:45 a.m. and struck a southbound car driven by Paul Ingvaldson, 79, of Blooming Prairie, the patrol said.
Ingvaldson was injured and taken to St. Mary's Hospital in Rochester.
Alcohol is not thought to have been a factor in the crash.
The crash happened on dry roads. The highway was closed for four hours, but reopened just before noon, according to the state Department of Transportation.
The Ericksons' deaths were the 29th and 30th traffic fatalities reported on state roads this year, according to the Department of Public Safety's Office of Traffic Safety. There had been 15 by this time last year.
