With area's first snowfall, 4 injured in Tuesday morning crash
Oct. 31—VIOLA TOWNSHIP, Minn. — Four people were injured in a crash on Minnesota Highway 42 northeast of Rochester on Tuesday morning, Oct. 31, 2023.
A 2022 Dodge Ram was traveling north on Highway 42 and a 2014 Chevrolet Volt was traveling south on the highway when the vehicles collided near 65th Street Northeast, according to a Minnesota State Patrol crash report.
The Chevrolet driver, 40-year-old Kimberly Irene O'Connor of Elgin, and a 4-year-old and a 13-year-old passenger had non-life threatening injuries. A third passenger, 65-year-old Kathleen Lee Michaud of Menomonie, Wisconsin, had life-threatening injuries, the report said. O'Connor, Michaud and the two other passengers were transported to Mayo Clinic Hospital-Saint Marys.
The Dodge driver, 69-year-old Bruce Robert Ihrke of Plainview, was not injured in the crash, according to the report.
The roads were snowy and icy, according to the report. With the area's first snowfall, the State Patrol reported 181 crashes, 121 vehicle spinouts and 13 jackknifed semis between midnight and 9 a.m. on Tuesday.
The Olmsted County Sheriff's Office, Eyota Fire Department, Eyota Volunteer Ambulance Service, Elgin Ambulance Service and Mayo Clinic Ambulance Service also responded to the Highway 42 crash.
