Woman killed in accident on Hwy. 169 identified

by Elizabeth Baier, Minnesota Public Radio

St. Paul, Minn. — The Minnesota State Patrol has identified the woman involved in a fatal car accident that closed portions of Highway 169 Tuesday afternoon.

Elleny T. Belayneh, 19, of Minneapolis, died from injuries resulting from the head-on collision, which happened shortly before 3 p.m. on the southbound lanes of Highway 169 near Pioneer Trail, officials said.

Belayneh was the passenger in a 1995 Pontiac Grand Prix that was travelling northbound when it went through the median and hit a 2004 Pontiac Aztek traveling south at the time, officials said.

Officials with the Bloomington and Eden Prairie police departments responded to the scene.

Neither driver suffered serious injuries, the State Patrol said.