Five Killed in Two Crashes on Wednesday

The Minnesota State Patrol is reporting the deaths of five people in two separate crashes Wednesday afternoon.

The first occurred around 3pm in southwestern Minnesota, where three people were killed and three others were seriously injured when a car and a shuttle bus collided on a highway near Marshall. The deceased were identified as 80-year-old Robert and 72-year-old Shirley Mcclain of Marshall, and 88-year-old Phyllis Behnke of Arco, which is a small town west of Marshall.

The two other fatalities occurred near Warroad around 5:30 pm when a train crashed into a car at a railroad crossing. The victims were 35-year-old Aaron Cook of Warroad and 33-year-old Sheryl Reed of Macon, Georgia.

A preliminary report indicates State Troopers made 174 drunk driving arrests statewide during on New Year’s Eve and early on New Year’s Day. That down from a year ago when troopers reported 191 DUI arrests.