HAUGEN, Wis. (WJMC) — Names have been released of the driver killed and the driver injured in a head-on collision on Highway 53 near Haugen on Wednesday.
The State Patrol said the driver killed was 71-year-old Ira Luplow, of Menominee, Michigan. He was driving south in the construction zone on Highway 53, around 5:30 p.m., when a minivan collided with his vehicle.
The minivan, driven by 56-year-old Patricia Kronquist, of Rice Lake, was passing northbound traffic in the wrong lane. Kronquist was airlifted to Mayo Hospital in Eau Claire with lifethreatening injuries.
Both were wearing seat belts and alcohol was not a factor. The state patrol is investigating the crash.