ROLLAG, Minn. - The driver of a turkey truck died this morning after the truck left a Clay County road near here and rolled "at least 50 feet" down an embankment, Sheriff Bill Bergquist said.
He said it's unclear why the truck left the road and said the investigation into the death of Doyle Nelson, 57, is ongoing.
Bergquist said Nelson, of Goodridge, Minn., had just picked up a load of turkeys from a farm and was transporting them to a plant in Thief River Falls when the crash occurred..
Authorities received a call at 4:21 a.m. from someone who saw debris on County Road 35 about six miles south of Rollag. The caller said he thought it may have been an accident but wasn't sure if he saw a vehicle, according to the dispatch log.
Emergency responders arrived and saw a semitrailer at the bottom of the embankment. The driver was trapped in the cab, Bergquist said.
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"We did take quite a while to get to the driver, but when we did the driver was deceased," he said.
The road curves where the accident happened, but it's unclear why the semitrailer left the roadway, he said.
The Minnesota State Patrol, Barnesville fire and ambulance and the Hawley Police Department assisted at the scene.
Rollag is around 20 miles east of Moorhead.
The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead and the Herald are Forum Communications Co. newspapers.
