Snow blamed for hundreds of accidents in Minnesota

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A few inches of snow made for a busy night and morning for the Minnesota State Patrol, where troopers responded to a few hundred accidents and spin-outs.

Lt. Eric Roeske tells WCCO Radio that between 4 p.m. Saturday and 8 a.m. Sunday, there were 189 crashes statewide with 22 involving injuries. The patrol also dealt with 193 vehicles that went off the road or spun out.

Those figures include 103 crashes with 11 involving injuries in the Twin Cities area, where 103 vehicles went off the road or spun out.

The Patrol reported one fatality, a pedestrian struck while crossing state Highway 48 east of Hinckley in Pine County Saturday night, but it was not weather related. The victim was identified as 63-year-old Michael B. Giguere of Pine City.