MOUNDS VIEW -- Wesley J. Peters, 61, of Clara City, suffered minor injuries Monday in the turkey truck rollover accident that closed a major freeway ramp until about 9 a.m.
According to the State Patrol, the truck, a 1998 International, was hauling turkeys and rolled over into the ditch, requiring the closure of the eastbound Highway 10 ramp to southbound Interstate 35W.
Pat Solheid, a spokeswoman for Jennie-O Turkey Store in Willmar, said the truck was carrying 900 to 1,000 turkeys to the company's processing plant in Faribault when it flipped about 1 a.m. while pulling on to Interstate 35W south.
Most of the turkeys died, she said.
Authorities shut down the ramp for nearly eight hours Monday as they cleaned up. Jake Martin of the Regional Transportation Management Center said that at rush hour the traffic backup was two miles long.
