A 37-year-old man from Menomonie, Wisconsin, suffered life-threatening injuries in a frightful freeway crash reportedly caused by a semi truck that moved abruptly into his lane and slammed his car against the cement median barrier on Interstate 94 in Hudson, Wisconsin.
When rescuers arrived, Douglas Tronrud was pinned inside his vehicle. The emergency team broke out the car’s rear window and extricated him. Mr. Tronrud was then rushed to the Level 1 Adult Trauma Center at Region’s Hospital in St. Paul.
Semi pins car against median barrier, seriously injuring man on I-94 near Hudson, Wis. https://t.co/KqPasPJxLC pic.twitter.com/9nFI84doQn
— Star Tribune (@StarTribune) May 21, 2017
The Hudson Star Observer and the Star Tribune of Minneapolis reported on the devastating semi truck crash. They both quoted the Wisconsin State Patrol as saying the tractor trailer turned left into Mr. Tronrud’s lane because traffic ahead of the semi was slowed by an incident on the Hudson bridge and the truck driver couldn’t stop in time to avoid hitting the vehicles in front of him. The truck’s black box data will provide additional information, including the speed the semi was going before the crash.
The State Patrol identified the driver of the 18-wheeler as 26-year-old Muhumed F. Noor of Columbus, Ohio. A photograph from the scene showed that the cab of Noor’s truck went up and over the cement barrier, demolishing the Grand Am driven by Doug Tronrud.
Menomonie is located about 30 miles east of Hudson on I-94. This semi crash happened in the westbound lanes of the freeway, just before the freeway crosses into Minnesota over the St. Croix River. Reports said it was 1 p.m. on Saturday, May 20, when the semi-truck sideswiped the car.
