A Fargo man died from injuries he sustained in a two-vehicle collision Friday afternoon on Columbia Road near Altru Hospital.
According to Police Lt. Mike Ferguson, about 2:28 p.m., a 911 call came in. Investigators found that the 62-year-old man had driven a 2004 Audi car west on 14th Avenue South, crossing South Columbia Road, when his vehicle was hit on the driver’s side by a northbound 2001 Ford F-150 pickup. The intersection is just a block south of the main entrance to Altru Hospital.
The Audi driver had serious injuries and was transported by ambulance to Altru Hospital, where he later died, Ferguson said.
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The driver of the pickup truck, a 34-year-old Grand Forks man, was not injured but a 10-year-old passenger in the pickup was treated at Altru Hospital for injuries and released. Ferguson did not release the names of the three people.
The intersection has a stop sign on 14th Avenue and also an island in the median of Columbia Road so that a vehicle exiting 14th Avenue headed west cannot turn into the southbound lanes but must turn right into the two northbound lanes, Ferguson said.
The speeds of each vehicle still are being determined as well as whether the pickup driver will be cited.
A small drone operated by the Grand Forks Sheriff’s Department and UND’s aviation school was deployed to take images from above the scene to aid in the accident investigation, Ferguson said.
The Grand Forks Fire Department, the North Dakota Highway Patrol and the U.S. Border Patrol also helped in the event, especially with the large amount of traffic that needed to be diverted from the busy, four-lane Columbia Road for several blocks for about two hours.
Ferguson said anyone with information about the collision should call police at (701) 787-8000 .
