Fatal accident Friday afternoon north of Kimball

Just past 4 p.m. Friday, Dec. 22, there was a three-vehicle accident near Powder Ridge Road and Highway 15, north of Kimball, according to a Minnesota State Patrol report filed late Friday evening.

A 2022 Honda Accord driven by an unidentified 17-year-old male was eastbound on Powder Ridge Road; a 16-year-old female passenger from Saint Michael also was in the car. The Honda collided with a 2019 Nissan Murano heading southbound on Highway 15; the Nissan was driven by Kari Ann Fischer, 41 of Kimball. A third vehicle, a 2013 Dodge Avenger driven by Elton Keith Hatcher, 80 of Watkins, was northbound on Highway 15 when it struck the Honda Accord at Powder Ridge Road.

Three of the four car occupants were seat-belted, and air bags deployed; all three had non-life-threatening injuries that did not require transport to a medical facility. The elder driver, Hatcher, was not belted although his airbag did deploy; Hatcher did not survive the crash.

Much of Minnesota was covered in a thick blanket of fog at the time of the crash, and traffic was diverted for several hours after the accident. Stearns County Sheriff’s Office and Kimball Fire Department also responded to the scene.