Minor injuries in semi collision

A semi truck full of fruit overturned off Highway 210 in the early hours of Monday morning, after it collided with a van that crossed the centerline.

According to the Minnesota State Patrol report, just after 3:30 a.m. Monday, July 1 the van - driven by Duluth's Nathan Christopher Smith, age 37 - was traveling westbound on Highway 210 while the semi was eastbound near mile post 211 and the intersection. The van crossed the center line and semi driver Michael Gregory Soule, age 54, of Perham, Minn. tried to avoid the crash but the two vehicles ultimately collided "passenger side to passenger side" as the van continued to cross further into the eastbound lane. Smith was taken to the Community Memorial Hospital in Cloquet via ground ambulance with non-life-threatening injuries. Soule was not injured.

According to the report, both drivers were wearing seatbelts and alcohol was not a factor.

In addition to the Minnesota State Patrol, officers from the Carlton County sheriff's office, Fond du Lac and Cloquet police departments responded to the accident.

It took most of Monday to right the semi, which ended its run Monday night in a ditch at the intersection of Highway 210 and Central Hall Road.