Makinen man dies in rollover crash

A 29-year-old Makinen man was killed in a rollover crash Sunday night, the St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office reported.
Rai Walden was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash that happened at about 9:15 p.m. on the 9300 block of County Highway 4, also known as Vermilion Trail, about 25 miles north of Duluth.
Walden’s was one of two vehicles found by deputies when they arrived at the crash scene. Both were in the ditch; the one driven by Walden was overturned and submerged in about 2 feet of water.
A passenger was also trapped inside Walden’s vehicle. Deputies, with help from a passerby, were able to remove the passenger, who was taken by helicopter to a Duluth hospital with injuries which appeared to be non-life threatening, the Sheriff’s Office said in a news release. The three occupants of the other vehicle all appeared to have non-life threatening injuries and were transported to local hospitals. The names of all others involved were not released by the Sheriff’s Office.
“Driver negligence, mechanical malfunction and weather are believed to be contributing factors” in the crash, the Sheriff’s Office reported.
The Minnesota State Patrol, St. Louis County Rescue Squad, Life Link III air medical, Gold Cross Ambulance, and Gnesen and Fredenburg volunteer fire departments also responded to the scene. The crash remains under investigation.