Two vehicles — one of them towing a fish house — collided Friday evening near Aitkin, Minn., leaving one driver dead and eight others injured, including five children and an adult apparently related to the deceased driver.
According to the State Patrol, Maggie Spychalla, 34, was towing a fish house behind a GMC Acadia north on Hwy. 169 when a Dodge Ram pickup traveling east on Tame Fish Lake Road collided with her vehicle. The crash occurred about 7:15 p.m. Friday in Hazelton Township, about 10 miles south of Aitkin.
Spychalla, of Hazelton Township, died of injuries in the crash, and six passengers in her vehicle were taken to a hospital in Aitkin withnoncritical injuries, including five children ranging in age from 3 to 17.
The pickup driver, Jimmie Dano, 18, of Hazelton Township, and a passenger in his vehicle were taken to Cuyuna Regional Medical Center in Crosby for treatment of noncritical injuries.
Authorities said alcohol was not a factor in the crash and that road conditions were dry. All those in the SUV were wearing seat belts, while the two men in the pickup were not.
