Seven vehicles involved in accidents near Melvin

Melvin, Iowa — The Iowa State Patrol and the Osceola County Sheriff's Office are investigating a multi-vehicle crash that occurred just before 8:00 a.m. Wednesday morning one mile south and two miles west of Melvin.

In fact, the incident involved at least two accidents. The first involved three semi-trucks driven by a man from Sioux Rapids, a man from Alvord and a woman from Bigelow, Minnesota. According to the Iowa State Patrol's preliminary report, thick fog was a major contributing factor to the accident.

The police report states that one of the trucks stopped at a stop sign in the fog and then attempted to turn left. The two trucks collided at the intersection. Another vehicle approaching the scene of the accident attempted to swerve and managed to avoid hitting any vehicle. However, while attempting to drive away from the scene of the accident, it apparently struck another vehicle.

The Osceola County Sheriff's Office responded to the other accident, which occurred one-eighth of a mile north of the original accident scene and was the result of a road closure and traffic backup. This accident involved three additional vehicles.

It appears that no injuries were reported other than seat belt discomfort. The officer says that at least in the first accident, injuries were prevented by wearing seat belts.

We hope to know all the details of the incident and will update this article as soon as they become available.