MINNEAPOLIS, MN – As multiple metro communities and a North Dakota campus mourn the loss of four young women killed in a crash near Alexandria on Monday, FOX 9 News is learning more about what happened by speaking to one of the drivers who was involved in the wreck but survived.
Imagine traveling just a few car lengths behind a collision unfolding before your eyes. That’s what happened to Kari Christiansen, who was driving with her 71-year-old mother in the passenger seat.
Christiansen said road conditions were slushy at the time, but not terribly slippery. The mother and daughter duo were traveling eastbound on Interstate 94 in a Toyota Corolla, following an SUV and passing a truck, when the students’ vehicle crossed the median and smashed into the SUV.
“All of a sudden, I saw a flash of black, SUV spun — it was less than a second. No time to react — couldn’t avoid hitting the SUV,” Christiansen recalled. “Things were flying everywhere on impact — metal things from the car flying out. It was like being in a tornado (with) debris falling on our car.”
Christiansen said the accident scene was total chaos, and she didn’t learn four people had died until she was at the hospital.
“It’s just mind-boggling,” she said. “You see accidents, hear accidents. When boys and girls lose their lives on the road, it just breaks your heart.”
Though Christiansen’s mother — Joann Bieker, of Hopkins — is still in an Alexandria hospital due to neck injuries, she could be released as soon as tomorrow and Christiansen stressed that she hopes others will focus their concern on the victims’ families.
Related Minneapolis Accident Lawyer posts:
Good Samaritan Begins Crash Recovery – FOX 9 NewsMINNEAPOLIS - One Good Samaritan saw his life change in an instant after he bravely tried to help carry a woman to safety after a car accident in Interstate 94 and...
North Dakota State mourns deaths of four students in Minnesota crash – Duluth News TribuneFatal crash emergency crews work at the scene of a fatal crash on Interstate 94 west of Alexandria, Minn., on Monday. The Minnesota State Patrol confirmed that four people died in...