NDHP identifies victims of accidents in Pembina, Rolette Counties

Authorities have identified a Drayton (ND) man who died in a Wednesday morning crash in Pembina County.

The North Dakota Highway Patrol says 35-year-old Kyle Watts was driving a pickup that collided with a sugar beet truck on County Road 3 shortly before 4:30 AM.

Watts was ejected from the pickup. Both vehicles were engulfed in flames.

The beet truck driver, 31-year-old Ty Smith of Oklahoma, suffered minor injuries.

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Meanwhile, the victim in a Wednesday night two-vehicle crash in Rolette County has been identified as 57-year-old Ernest Counts of Minot.

The State Patrol says a 73-year-old driver missed a stop sign at the intersection of Highway 281 and County Road 15 and hit Counts’ pickup, sending it into a ditch.

Counts and two passengers were ejected during the rollover. None of the occupants was wearing a seat belt. Counts was pronounced dead at the scene. Both passengers sustained serious injuries and were transported to a Minot hospital.

The other driver, Richard Casavant of Rolette, was wearing a seat belt, but also suffered serious injuries and is hospitalized.

The accident was reported around 10:00 PM.