Two separate vehicle accidents reported in Southeast Minnesota

Two distinct traffic incidents occurred in southeast Minnesota on Thursday.

In the first incident, a 79-year-old truck driver from Lester Prairie died after being struck by a pickup truck on Highway 169 north of Mankato. The driver was standing outside his parked semi-truck on the right shoulder when the northbound pickup, driven by 52-year-old Javier Garcia Rivera of Kaufman, Texas, struck him. Authorities stated that Rivera was not injured and was not under the influence of alcohol.

In a second, unrelated crash in Hokah, a 56-year-old driver lost control of a westbound pickup on Highway 44. The driver, Matthew Collier Alioto of La Crosse, was transported to Gundersen Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. A passenger in the vehicle was uninjured. This single-vehicle accident damaged a pipe and fire hydrant, resulting in a water service disruption for multiple residences in Hokah that lasted from Thursday evening until Friday morning.