Seven students, one adult injured in Minnesota school van-semi crash

Image 1 of 3

At least seven students and an adult were injured when a semi-truck crashed with a school van at an intersection in western Minnesota late Monday afternoon, according to the Swift County Sheriff.

The crash was reported at 3:42 p.m. near the corner of County Road 20 and County Road 63 NW in Danvers, Minn., when the van entered the intersection from a gravel road and was involved in a t-bone crash with the semi.

The sheriff said the victims ranged from eight to 16 years old. The victims were taken to a nearby hospital for treatment and two or three victims were transported to Twin Cities hospitals by helicopter. There were no fatalities reported.

UPDATE: According to the Swift County Sheriff's Office, the Hancock Public School van was driven by Judith Van Eps, 68, of Hancock. Eps was in stable condition Tuesday. The semi was driven by Jeremy Beyer, 43, of Danvers. Beyer was treated and released at scene. The passengers in the school van were Gaige Sanderson, 16 (critical), Harleigh Schlief, 16 (critical), Braydn Sanderson, 15 (treated and released), Savannah Schlief 14, (critical), Natasha Schlief, 12 (stable), Blade Schlief, 10 (stable) and Korah Schroeder, 10 (stable). Schroeder is from Holloway and all of the other students are from Danvers.

“It’s a horrific crash,” Swift County Sheriff John Holtz said. “With children involved, when you have kids yourself, it really hits home.”

The transport van was from Hancock Public Schools. The students were returning home from school after being picked up from the elementary school and high school.

The crash is still under investigation by the Swift County Sheriff’s Office and the Minnesota State Patrol. 

Appleton Ambulance and Fire, Benson Ambulance and Fire, Stevens County Medical Ambulances, Danvers First Responders and Fire and Holloway first responders were paged to assist with the response. The Minnesota State Patrol, Benson Police Department and Appleton Police Department also responded.