A head-on crash in St. Paul's Battle Creek neighborhood left a woman dead and three people critically injured Thursday evening.
People began calling 911 about 6:25 p.m. to alert dispatchers to the crash, which occurred on Lower Afton Road near Morningside Circle, east of Hwy. 61, according to St. Paul police. Officers rushed to the scene and found several good Samaritans trying to help the injured.
An 18-year-old woman who was ejected from one of the vehicles died at the scene.
Taken to area hospitals were three men in critical condition, ages 29, 25 and one age unknown, as well as a 19-year-old woman and 30-year-old man with noncritical injuries.
Police said a white Pontiac G6 carrying six people turned west onto Lower Afton Road from Morningside and crashed head-on into a eastbound red Pontiac G6 carrying two people.
Investigators are working to determine who was driving the white vehicle and whether drugs or alcohol contributed to the crash.
As of Thursday night, no arrests have been made. The crash was "such a tragic incident that will affect many," said St. Paul police spokesman Steve Linders.
It was the second fatal crash in St. Paul in six hours. Earlier, one person died and several others suffered injuries in a four-vehicle crash on Hwy. 52 near Plato Boulevard.
There was a third fatal crash in the area Thursday when four vehicles collided on eastbound Hwy. 55 at Doyle Path in Rosemount, in Dakota County, at 12:21 p.m.
The vehicles involved in that crash were a 2015 Subaru Legacy driven by a 47-year-old man from South St. Paul and with a 48-year-old woman as a passenger. Information on their conditions was not available late Thursday.
Also involved in the crash were a semitractor trailer driven by William. J. Hayes, 67, of South St. Paul. The third vehicle was a 2008 Dodge Ram driven by Neal L. Wagner, 55, of Rochester, who was also taken to Regions with noncritical injuries. The fourth vehicle was a 1991 Volvo dump truck driven by Fred Fonji, 46, of Roseville. All three of those drivers were taken to Regions Hospital in St. Paul with noncritical injuries.
According to the patrol, the crash occurred when the semi, eastbound on Hwy. 55, stoped to turn left onto Doyle Path. The Subaru and pickup were stopped behind the semi waiting for it to turn when they were struck from behind by the dump truck, which caused a chain reaction of collisions.
The patrol is investigating.
