Two people died in separate crashes just minutes apart late Wednesday, the Minnesota State Patrol said.
A semitrailer truck driver who was not wearing a seat belt died in a rollover crash in Chippewa County in western Minnesota. The driver, Daniel Lee Basler Jr. of Webster, S.D., was headed east on Hwy. 40 about 11:51 p.m. when his rig veered into the right ditch near 70th Avenue NE. in Louriston Township and rolled, the patrol said.
Basler, 36, was taken to St. Cloud Hospital where he was pronounced dead, the patrol said.
A few minutes later in Wright County, a pedestrian was hit by a passing vehicle on Interstate 94 near Monticello and died.
The pedestrian, a 23-year-old man from Buffalo, was in the westbound lanes near Hwy. 25 when he was hit at 11:54 p.m., the patrol said.
The driver, a 49-year-old man from Little Falls, was not hurt. He was wearing a seat belt, the patrol said.
Tim Harlow
