Head-On Crash Between SUV and Passenger Van in Southwestern Minnesota Kills 5, Injures 8

Overview

• Authorities say the collision occurred around 4:42–4:45 p.m. Friday near Highway 71 and 240th Street in Germantown Township, Cottonwood County.
• A northbound GMC Terrain and a southbound Ford Transit carrying 13 people collided head-on, and the SUV’s driver, 67-year-old Martin Nickolas Hanson of Springfield, died at the scene.
• Law enforcement identified the four van passengers who died as Kelly Christine Hargus, 49; Kathleen Ann Johnson, 73; Richard Warren Johnson, 73; and Lindsey Kay Rossow, 47.
• Eight others were injured, including two with life-threatening injuries and six with non-life-threatening injuries, according to the State Patrol.
• Victims were taken to hospitals in Redwood Falls and Windom, and one critically injured passenger was airlifted to Sanford in Sioux Falls as investigators work to determine the cause and have not released the van driver’s identity.