An icy Minnesota river claimed the life of a trucker Friday morning, after a winter storm created treacherous road conditions.
The winter storm hit St. Louis County, Minnesota early Friday morning, October 27th, bringing high winds and approximately 5-7 inches of snow to Interstate 35, west of Duluth.
According to The Duluth News Tribune, a semi truck was traveling on northbound I-35 at approximately 4:50 a.m. when the driver lost control on the slick roads. The semi truck then veered off the interstate and went off of an embankment before landing partially in the St. Louis River.
No other vehicles were involved.
When emergency crews arrived at the scene, they were unable to locate the truck driver, so a search of the river began.
Semi drives off I-35 into St. Louis River, body of driver recovered. https://t.co/saDnO0eW76 pic.twitter.com/GI8zP4CVXy
— FOX 9 (@FOX9) October 27, 2017
Emergency responders braved the strong wind and waves of the river as they searched for the trucker’s body using waterproof rescue suits and a rescue boat large enough to face the waves.
After searching for several hours, rescue crews discovered the trucker’s body at approximately 9 a.m. just “down the shore from the bridges,” explained Area Fire District Chief Kevin Schroeder.
He was pronounced dead on scene but his identity has not been released.
Schroeder stated that the treacherous rescue conditions were “not the worst but it ranks up there.”
Drivers are still asked to use caution in the area by driving slowly, and leaving plenty of space between vehicles as the snow begins to melt.