Snowmobiler killed after crash with ambulance

Medical responders were en route elsewhere when they crashed, sheriff’s office says

Northern Minnesota is home to a large snowmobile trail network (Getty Images)

A snowmobile rider in his 60s has died following a collision with an ambulance in northern Minnesota.

The 61-year-old, Jeffrey Joe Blom, was travelling northbound on the Arrowhead snowmobile trail when he collided with an ambulance at about 3.55pm on Saturday, the sheriff’s office in St Louis County said.

Mr Blom was thought to have been “attempting to cross over Ash River Trail to continue on the (Arrowhead) trail when he hit the ambulance on the roadway.”

It was being driven by Medical responders from the Kabetogama Fire Department who were travelling eastbound on the Ash River trail. The ambulance crew were responding to a call elsewhere.

When sheriff’s deputies and first responders arrived at the scene of the crash, about half a mile mile away from Highway 53, Mr Bloom was found dead, the sheriff’s office said. Life saving efforts were tried.

The Arrowhead trail and Ash River trail are among a number of snowmobile trails that cut through Voyageurs National Park, and the system of trails is among the biggest of its kind in the midwest.

The incident comes about a week after a 48-year-old man was badly injured in a snowmobile crash in Mountain Iron, St Louis County, after the vehicle collided with a rock.

Barry Hartman, who was traveling southbound when he “struck a rock”, was taken to hospital in Duluth and treated for injuries that were not life threatening, according to the sheriff’s office.