Paramedic dies after ambulance rear-ends stalled semi
A paramedic is dead and another injured after an ambulance rear-ended a stalled semi on Interstate 694 near Shingle Creek Parkway, the Minnesota State Patrol said Monday.
The semi was in the process of being towed near the split of I-694 eastbound and Interstate 94.
The HealthEast ambulance was traveling from Monticello to Minneapolis and was not carrying a patient when the accident happened around 7 p.m.
State trooper Sara DuPaul said a preliminary investigation shows the ambulance did not have lights or siren on.
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The semi was stopped due to mechanical trouble for about 16 minutes.
"The ambulance came from the 694 side and attempted to merge across the apex and subsequently struck the back of a semi," DuPaul said.
The paramedic sitting on the passenger side was killed. The ambulance's driver is at North Memorial Health Hospital and is expected to survive. The semi driver and tow truck driver were not injured.
DuPaul said there was no sign of impairment and it's not clear whether the ambulance driver saw the truck. She also said the semi had made an "emergency stop in the apex as best as they could pull over."
The eastbound lanes of I-694 were shut down for several hours as investigators from the State Patrol and commercial vehicle inspectors examined the site.