Trailer breaks and spills sugar beets onto highway, damages vehicles

OLIVIA - A semi trailer with a full load of sugar beets malfunctioned this morning and beets spilled onto state Highway 212 just west of Olivia in Renville County.

Two vehicles were damaged by the beets but no one was injured.

According to the State Patrol the incident happened around 8 a.m. when a west-bound beet trailer broke open at the side and spilled beets onto the road as two east-bound vehicles were passing by.

The beets struck two oncoming vehicles, including a Chevy Malibu driven by Larissa Maurice, 32, of Danube and a Ford Fusion driven by Kristine Mattson, 39, of Houston and Harris, Texas.

The vehicles were struck on the front and side by the beets.

The driver of the semi was Jeffrey Marquardt, 63, of Maplewood. He was driving a 1999 International semi that was pulling a 1974 beet trailer.