RAYMOND — The driver of a loaded semitractor and trailer hauling sugar beets was uninjured Tuesday morning when a BNSF Railway train collided with the trailer.
According to Chippewa County Sheriff Derek Olson, the accident occurred at 7:20 a.m. Tuesday at a rail crossing on the Chippewa County-Kandiyohi County line just north of Minnesota Highway 23.
The driver was identified as Elias Paul Schlotte, 32, of Montgomery, Texas. According to the news release from Olson, the driver was wearing a seat belt.
According to a Chippewa County sheriff's deputy at the scene outside of Raymond, the train apparently hit the trailer of the semi and separated it from the semi.
The intersection where the accident happened has a stop sign and railroad crossing signs.
The incident is under investigation by the Chippewa County Sheriff's Office. The Minnesota State Patrol assisted at the scene.
1/3: A BNSF Railway train collided with a semitruck hauling sugar beets Tuesday morning southwest of Raymond along Minnesota Highway 23 on the Kandiyohi and Chippewa County border. Erica Dischino / West Central Tribune
2/3: Sugar beets are cleaned up Tuesday morning southwest of Raymond along Minnesota Highway 23 on the Kandiyohi and Chippewa County border after a BNSF railway train and semi-truck hauling sugar beets collided. Erica Dischino / West Central Tribune
3/3: Sheriff squad cars line Minnesota Highway 23 after a BNSF Railway train collided with a semitrailer hauling sugar beets Tuesday morning southwest of Raymond along on the Kandiyohi and Chippewa County border. Erica Dischino / West Central Tribune
Mark Wasson is the Minnesota Capitol Correspondent for Forum News Service. Previously he worked as a public safety reporter in Rochester and Willmar, Minn. Readers can reach Mark at
mwasson@forumcomm.com.
