Mass pileup on Highway 2 near Floodwood (Bemidji Now)

(Floodwood, MN) — The Minnesota State Patrol has confirmed fatalities in a crash near Floodwood that closed a section of Highway 2 for several hours. The crash involved five vehicles, including two tractor-trailers, and occurred near a construction site. Emergency crews from several agencies provided assistance at the scene. Drivers are being rerouted via a detour while officials continue to investigate the incident. A tractor-trailer crashed into a line of vehicles stopped for road construction on Highway 2 near Floodwood, causing a five-vehicle pileup that left one person dead and two others injured. The Star Tribune reports the crash involving two tractor-trailers and three SUVs occurred just before 3 p.m. Wednesday in Arrowhead Township near Floodwood. The Minnesota State Patrol said the chain-reaction crash began when a tractor-trailer driver “crashed into the stationary vehicles at highway speeds” and collided in a construction zone. The truck driver was 63-year-old Gregory Scott Anwiler of Grand Rapids. He was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. One of the SUV drivers died in the accident. He was 65-year-old Vincent Louis Dow of Blackduck. Two other people were injured in the accident, two were uninjured. Further details are expected to be released.

(Star-Tribune)