A driver believed to be impaired by alcohol drove the wrong way on Interstate 94 in north Minneapolis early Tuesday and struck another vehicle head-on, killing two teenage occupants in the vehicle he hit, the State Patrol said.
The 26-year-old male driver, identified by the patrol as Quoc Thanh Tran, was traveling west in the eastbound lanes when he hit a Toyota Camry between Lowry and 26th avenues N. about 1:35 a.m.
Tran had to be extricated from his BMW and was taken to North Memorial Medical Center with critical injuries, said Lt. Tiffani Nielson.
A blood sample was taken at the hospital, Nielson said, but the results were not immediately available. "We believe he was impaired by alcohol," Nielson said.
An 18-year-old girl from Minneapolis, identified as Diana Rojas Martinez, who was driving the Camry, and her 19-year-old male passenger, Christopher Jahmar Bunay, were killed.
The wrong-way driver could face two felony charges of vehicular homicide, Nielson said on Tuesday.
Investigators hope to get a statement from Tran to learn where he was and where he got onto I-94. Police expect to make an arrest and book him into jail when he is released from the hospital.
The eastbound lanes of I-94 were shut down for about four hours following the crash. Drivers were forced to exit the freeway at Dowling Avenue while authorities reconstructed the crash and cleared the debris.
