Three girls from Flandreau, South Dakota, and an 88-year-old man from Hendricks, Minnesota, are dead after a wrong-way crash on Interstate 29 near Colman left a fourth girl fighting for her life in a Sioux Falls hospital. The collision happened at about 8:35 p.m. last Monday, Oct. 26, when a pickup truck traveling the wrong direction slammed head-on into a van carrying four Flandreau teenagers.
According to the Mitchell Republic, the 88-year-old man was driving a 2020 Ford Ranger northbound in the southbound lanes of I-29 near mile marker 119, roughly 10 miles north of Colman, when his truck struck a 2003 Dodge Caravan that was in the process of passing a 2017 Peterbilt semi-truck. The impact of the head-on crash then caused the semi to strike the Caravan as well, the outlet reported.
The driver of the Caravan, a 15-year-old girl from Flandreau, died in the crash along with two of her passengers — a 12-year-old girl and a 16-year-old girl, also from Flandreau, per the same account. A fourth passenger, another 12-year-old Flandreau girl, survived and was taken to a hospital in Sioux Falls, where she is being treated for life-threatening injuries.
Ejected Without Seat Belts
The 88-year-old driver of the Ford Ranger was also killed. He was ejected from the truck and was not wearing a seat belt, the Mitchell Republic reported. The Brookings Register reported that all four girls inside the Dodge Caravan were also ejected from the vehicle and were not wearing seat belts at the time of the crash.
The driver of the semi-truck, a 59-year-old man from Arlington, was not injured in the crash. He was wearing a seat belt, the Mitchell Republic noted. Authorities have said the details released so far are preliminary and that an investigation into the crash remains ongoing.
A Community in Mourning
The Moody County Enterprise confirmed the crash site location near mile marker 119, about 10 miles north of Colman, matching timelines reported elsewhere. The three girls who died attended Flandreau Public Schools, and according to Cleveland.com, the school district has made counseling resources available to students and staff in the wake of the tragedy.
The three students killed were also members of the Boys & Girls Club of the Northern Plains, Cleveland.com reported, and the organization has been collecting donations to help the girls' families cover funeral expenses. The South Dakota Highway Patrol is leading the investigation into the crash, with the South Dakota Department of Public Safety providing the preliminary information released so far.
