UPDATE: One person dies in 8-vehicle crash near Grand Forks

GRAND FORKS, N.D. (Valley News Live) - (UPDATE) The names of individuals involved in the crash have now been released.

A total of 17 people were involved.

The identities are as follows.

• Vehicle 1- Steven Piechowski, 54, of Felton, MN. Piechowski was driving a 1998 Volvo truck pulling a belly dump trailer loaded with asphalt. The driver was injured in the crash.
• Vehicle 2- Dr. Eric Jayne, 61, of Des Moines, IA with passenger Sally Cooper Smith, 61, of Des Moines, IA. Jayne was driving a 2006 Chevy Malibu. Jayne died from injuries sustained from the crash while Smith suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
• Vehicle 3- Todd Petry, 57, of Waterville, MN. Petry was driving a 2011 Ford F-150 while pulling a boat. Jeffrey Grams, 56, of Hudson, IA and Skyler Petry, 25, of Waterville, MN were also passengers, who were uninjured in the crash. A juvenile was the third passenger. He suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
• Vehicle 4- Jeanne Waters, 51, of Larimore, ND. Waters was traveling in a 2018 Dodge Caravan. She endured non-lie-threatening injuries.
• Vehicle 5- Jeffrey Dunbar, 51, of Arkansaw, WI. Dunbar was a 2018 Toyota Tundra while pulling a boat. Melissa Dunbar, 52, Jake Dunbar, 24, Sarah Dunbar,19, all of Arkansaw, WI, were passengers. All had non-life-threatening injuries.
• Vehicle 6- Hillene Cantos, 39, of Devils Lake, ND. Cantos was driving a 2018 Toyota CR-V. Jennyvie Ariola, 37, of Devils Lake, ND, was also a passenger. All endured non-life-threatening injuries.
• Vehicle 7-Karl Koehmstedt, 57, of Rugby, ND. He was driving a 2014 Chevrolet Silverado while pulling an enclosed utility trailer. Koehmstedt was uninjured.
• Vehicle 8- Brenda Coble, 49, of Grand Forks. Coble drove a 2011 Honda Pilot. A juvenile male was a passenger at the time. Both were uninjured in the crash.

Authorities say vehicles two through nine were either slowing down or stopped on the west side at the intersection of Highway 2 and Airport Road waiting to travel east.

Piechowski, who was traveling with the belly dump trailer, was going east as he approached the intersection.

Piechowski failed to stop causing him to run into the back of Dr. Jayne’s car and pushing it into the group of stopped vehicles.

Piechowski vehicle eventually ran off the road into a ditch.

(ORIGINAL) North Dakota Highway Patrol says one person has died and several others hurt after eight vehicles were involved in a crash on Highway 2 near Grand Forks Friday morning.

A semi, multiple pick-up trucks, a boat, trailer, and several other cars were seen all over the road and the nearby ditch with serious damage. In all, eight vehicles were involved.

Sgt. Jeff Bauske says around 7:30 Friday morning, they took a report of semi driver swerving and driving on the rumble strips. Sgt. Bauske says just eight minutes later, they took several emergency calls about a multi-vehicle crash.

The crash happened in a head-to-head construction zone on Highway 2, three miles west of Grand Forks. One driver died in the crash and several other people were hurt and transported to Altru by ambulance.

As of Friday afternoon, investigators were still sorting out the identities of the drivers and passengers involved. They say all of the vehicles were badly damaged and had to be towed from the crash scene.

Highway 2 was closed for approximately six hours for crash scene investigation and clean-up.

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