5 killed in head-on crash in southwest Minnesota involving SUV, family's party bus with 13 occupants

Paul Walsh and Greta Kaul, The Minnesota Star Tribune on Mar 21, 2026

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

MINNEAPOLIS — A two-vehicle crash in southwestern Minnesota on Friday involving an SUV and a family’s party bus left five people dead and eight injured, according to the State Patrol.

The head-on collision occurred shortly after 4:40 p.m. Friday about 17 miles north of Windom on Hwy. 71 near 240th Street in Cottonwood County, said Minnesota State Patrol Sgt. Troy Christianson.

Four of the people who died and at least two of the injured were related and were gathered to celebrate a birthday, according to a family member, and all lived in Minnesota.

The State Patrol identified the dead as Richard Warren Johnson, 73, and Kathleen Ann Johnson, 73, both of Jackson, and their daughters, Kelly Christine Hargus, 49, of Jackson, and Lindsey Kay Rossow, 47, of Lakefield.

All were passengers on the transit van, which was headed south. Two other Johnson daughters, twin sisters, survived.

The driver of the northbound SUV, Martin Nickolas Hanson, 67, of Springfield, Minnesota, also died. He is not suspected of being under the influence of alcohol at the time of the crash, the State Patrol said.

The driver of the transit van carrying the family, a 42-year-old Lakefield man, has not been identified.

The State Patrol is investigating which driver might have crossed into the other’s lane, Christianson said.

There were 13 people in the van, ranging in age from 19 to 73.

Serena McCartney told The Minnesota Star Tribune that most, if not all, of the transit van’s occupants were members of the Johnsons’ family, who had gathered to celebrate Richard Johnson’s 74th birthday.

“They did everything together,” McCartney said. “They were wonderful people ... and so unbelievably close.”

Tanner Johnson, Richard Johnson’s nephew, echoed that sentiment.

“They were very tight-knit,” he said. “They all hung out together, grandpa and grandma, the cousins, all the nieces and nephews, they pretty much hung out every day.”

McCartney said twin sisters Kassandra Ambrose, who sustained life-threatening injuries, and Kristin Hanson, who sustained non-life-threatening injuries, were also children of the Johnsons. Both live in Jackson and were taken to Redwood Falls Hospital, according to the State Patrol.

Six of the transit van passengers had non-life-threatening injuries, while Ambrose and a 54-year-old man had life-threatening injuries. All of the injured were taken to hospitals.

Max Miller told The Minnesota Star Tribune he was driving in the same direction as the party bus, with a semitrailer truck between them.

Miller said he, the semi driver and two women who appeared to have medical backgrounds all pulled over and started tending to the family members.

He said he saw four people in the van who were unresponsive, and the SUV’s driver appeared to have died on impact.

“I helped one younger gentleman with lower leg pain out of a broken window and put him down on the grass along the side of the road,” Miller said. “I put him on my hip like he was a toddler.”

He said he assisted a woman who had “bumps and bruises and was coherent enough to have a conversation.”

Miller said many in the the family were wearing Jackson County Central High School shirts and coats.

That stretch of Hwy. 71 is a familiar one to Miller, who noted the collision “occurred at the top of a hill, so it’s possible that the van driver didn’t have the time to react” and avoid the SUV.

Our Savior’s Lutheran Church scheduled a public vigil Saturday night in response to the crash. The notice said most of the people involved in the collision have connections to the county and the church.

“Our Savior’s would like to invite the whole community to join in prayer for those affected by injury, loss and grief,” the announcement read.

The crash is the deadliest in Minnesota since June 2023, when five young women in a car were killed on E. Lake Street by a speeding SUV driver who had just exited Interstate 35W.

That driver, 30-year-old Derrick Thompson, is serving a 59-year sentence after being convicted of five counts of third-degree murder and 10 counts of criminal vehicular homicide.

In another deadly head-on crash this year in the state, four people were killed and one was critically injured Feb. 25 on a rural stretch of highway in central Minnesota. The crash occurred on Hwy. 169 along the south shore of Lake Mille Lacs in Kathio Township, the patrol said.