Plow driver injured in Minn. snowplow-train crash

KIESTER, Minn. (AP) -- A man was critically injured when the Minnesota Department of Transportation snowplow he was driving was struck by a train.

The crash happened Friday afternoon on icy pavement along Minnesota Highway 22 in Kiester. A State Patrol report says the snowplow was struck on the passenger side by the eastbound Union Pacific train, which pushed the plow about three-quarters of a mile down the railroad tracks.

The intersection doesn't have crossing arms, but does have lights and audible signals.

The plow driver, 55-year-old Bradley A. Bruegger, of Wells, was flown to Saint Marys Hospital in Rocheste, where the Patrol said he was in critical condition.

Kiester is about 20 miles southwest of Albert Lea, near the Iowa border.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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