Warner Road crashes: 43 drivers involved in 2 crashes on icy St. Paul road

ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - Icy road conditions led to two large crashes on Warner Road in St. Paul, involving more than 40 drivers and leaving four people injured on Thursday morning.

Crashes on Warner Road

First crash:

The St. Paul Police Department said there were two large crashes on Warner Road amid icy road conditions on Thursday morning. 

The first crash, which occurred around 7:30 a.m., involved 13 vehicles. Police said two people were transported to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries as a result of the collision. 

Second crash:

Just two hours later, at approximately 9:45 a.m., another large crash happened on Warner Road just west of Highway 52. Police said the incident involved 30 drivers, and an additional two people were transported to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. 

The two crashes had shut down Warner Road for a period of time, said police. While most of the cars sustained minor damage, 12 vehicles had to be towed. 

Due to the icy road conditions, sand trucks were requested to sand the roadway. 

What we don't know:

Police did not share further details about the injuries or the circumstances of the crashes.

Slick road conditions

The backstory:

Overnight snow created slick road conditions across Minnesota on Thursday morning, with several crashes and spinouts reported.

According to the Minnesota Department of Transportation's website, there was light slush or ice on road surfaces in the Twin Cities metro area, while some roads in southern and northern Minnesota were covered in snow or had ice on the surface on Thursday morning.

There were numerous crashes reported in and around the Twin Cities metro on Thursday morning, some of which involved injuries. Wright County posted on social media that the stretch of I-94 from Clear Water to Maple Grove has been an especially slick spot for drivers. MnDOT's website indicated at least nine crashes and spinouts on that stretch of road as of 7 :30 a.m. Thursday. 

Meanwhile, a Maple Grove police officer was injured while responding to a crash just before 5 a.m. on Thursday. The Minnesota State Patrol said the officer was in the area of eastbound I-94 and Brockton Lane when the squad car was struck by another driver from behind. The officer was transported to North Memorial Hospital with non-life threatening injuries. The other driver was uninjured, according to authorities. 

The Minnesota State Patrol has not released official crash numbers as of Thursday afternoon, but told FOX 9 there had been 30 crashes statewide from midnight to approximately 7:30 a.m.