Alcohol-Involved Crash Leaves 2 Dead, 5 Hurt In Northern Minnesota

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – Two people are dead and five hurt after an alcohol-involved crash late Saturday night in northern Minnesota.

The State Patrol says the crash happened just before midnight at the intersection of Highway 169 and County Road 25 in Great Scott Township. A pickup was going south on the county road when it collided a westbound Hyundai Elantra.

Killed in the crash were the driver of the pickup, 26-year-old Jason Gates of Superior, Wis., and a passenger in the Elantra, 7-year-old Snowden Elizabeth Bothwell, of Hibbing. Both were wearing seatbelts.

The State Patrol says alcohol was involved in the crash, noting that both Gates and his passenger had been drinking.

The five other people involved in the crash were hurt.

One of them, a 15-year-old passenger in the Elantra, suffered a life-threatening injury. Emergency crews brought her to Essentia Duluth for treatment.

The crash remains under investigation.