12-year-old boy dies in southern Minnesota snowmobile crash

NICOLLET (AP) –A 12-year-old boy from New Ulm has died in a snowmobile crash, authorities said.

The crash happened around 4:45 p.m. Saturday in a field next to the Nicollet Public School, according to the Nicollet County Sheriff’s Office.

Bryson Andrew Palmquist, the snowmobile operator, was pronounced dead at the scene, the sheriff’s office said.

Woman, boy hurt in car-train crash in northeast Minnesota

ESKO (AP) — A woman and a boy were hurt in a collision between a car and a train in northeastern Minnesota.

Carlton County dispatchers got a report of the crash at 1:30 p.m. Saturday in Thomson Township.

A 41-year-old woman and a 10-year-old boy from Thomson Township were injured. The two were taken to a hospital in Duluth.

The Carlton County Sheriff’s Office said Saturday afternoon it had not received an update on their conditions. The names of the woman and boy have not been released. The crash is under investigation.

Minnesota National Guard identifies 3 killed in copter crash

ST. CLOUD (AP) — The Minnesota National Guard said the three soldiers who were killed when their helicopter crashed near St. Cloud this week were part of a unit that returned last May from a nine-month deployment to the Middle East.

The Guard identified the men who were killed in Thursday’s crash as Chief Warrant Officers James A. Rogers Jr., 28, and Charles P. Nord, 30, and Sgt. Kort M. Plantenberg, 28.

The Guard tweeted that during their unit’s recent Middle East deployment, it conducted medical evacuations in support of operations Spartan Shield and Inherent Resolve.

All three soldiers were assigned to Company C, 2-211th General Support Aviation Battalion, which is based in the central Minnesota city of St. Cloud.

The soldiers were killed when their Black Hawk crashed in a field about 15 miles southwest of St. Cloud, which is where it had taken off from. The Guard says the crash happened during a routine maintenance test flight.

A team from Fort Rucker, Alabama, was sent to Minnesota to determine why the crash happened.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who served in the Guard for 24 years, ordered flags flown at half-staff at state and federal buildings throughout Minnesota from 2:05 p.m. Friday until 2:05 p.m. today. That was the time on Thursday when the Guard lost contact with the crew.

“They paid the ultimate price in their service,” Walz said in a statement. “Words will never ease the pain of this tragic loss, and the state of Minnesota is forever in the debt of these warriors.”

60-year-old St. Paul man dies in crash in northern Minnesota

BENA (AP) — A 60-year-old St. Paul man was killed when his pickup rolled in northern Minnesota.

Cass County Sheriff Tom Burch said the crash was reported early Saturday on a county road a mile south of Bena.

Deputies arrived and found that a Chevrolet Silverado had left the roadway, rolled in a ditch and landed in a swampy area. The driver was found dead inside the pickup. He was the only person in the vehicle. His name was not immediately released.

An autopsy is scheduled with the Ramsey County Medical Examiner’s Office.