Five injured in two-SUV crash near Perham, one airlifted to Fargo
Five people were hurt when two SUVs collided northeast of Perham, and one man was flown to Fargo with serious injuries.
A Friday morning crash at the intersection of Otter Tail County Highways 8 and 53 northeast of Perham injured five people and sent a 20-year-old Menahga man by helicopter to Fargo with serious injuries.
The Otter Tail County Sheriff’s Office said the collision happened around 7:30 a.m. and involved two SUVs. One of them was a Toyota 4 Runner driven by Oliver Simonson, 20, of Menahga. Simonson was airlifted by Life Link III to Essentia Health in Fargo after the crash.
The other SUV was driven by Michelle Bond, 60, of Perham. Bond and three juvenile passengers in her vehicle were taken for medical care with minor injuries. The crash left the intersection northeast of Perham at the center of another local traffic-safety concern, especially during a time when morning travel, school traffic and farm-related hauling can all overlap on county roads.
Local coverage identified the sheriff’s office as the source of the crash details. Reports placed the collision on the county highway crossing where motorists use Highway 8 and Highway 53 to move through the Perham area and beyond. For drivers who rely on that stretch, the incident is a sharp reminder that a routine commute can turn serious in seconds, particularly when speeds, visibility and crossing traffic meet at a rural intersection.
The crash also comes as the Otter Tail County Safe Communities Coalition has been pushing its “Click It for Coffee” campaign ahead of Memorial Day travel to reinforce seat-belt use. That effort underscores a basic but often decisive point in rural crashes: restraint use can help limit injuries when wrecks happen far from immediate emergency response.
With one driver flown out and four other people treated for lesser injuries, the Friday morning collision added urgency to ongoing safety reminders in Otter Tail County. At one of the busiest rural crossroads northeast of Perham, the aftermath was a clear reminder that county highways demand close attention from every driver using them.
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