FREEMAN TOWNSHIP, Minn. - Two men are dead following a head-on collision on I-35 near the Iowa border Wednesday.
The Minnesota State Patrol says it happened around 6:45 p.m. in Freeman Township near the town of Glenville. Investigators believe that 46-year-old Kirt Schmidt of Owatonna was driving southbound in the northbound lanes of I-35 when he ran into a vehicle driven by 28-year-old James Winnes of Albert Lea. The 1998 Buick Lesabre driven by Winnes was then pushed into the path of a semi that was in the lane next to him.
Both Schmidt and Winnes had to be extricated from their vehicles, and were declared dead on the scene. At this point the State Patrol is unsure why Schmidt was driving the wrong way down the interstate but say alcohol was not detected. Both victims were wearing their seatbelts.
The 52-year-old Fairmont man driving the semi was not injured.
With information from the Albert Lea Tribune
