Police ID victims of MN triple fatal crash

by Madeleine Baran, Minnesota Public Radio

INVER GROVE HEIGHTS, Minn. — Police have released the names of the three people who died in fiery collision between a school bus and a car in Inver Grove Heights.

The victims, residents of Inver Grove Heights, include the car's driver, Elaine Clausen, 70, and two passengers, Laela Shawel, 11, and Gion Clausen-Young, 4.

The head-on crash Friday destroyed the car and tore apart the school bus. The bus, which served Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan Public Schools, was not carrying any passengers and the driver was not injured, police said. Both vehicles were on fire when police arrived at the site on a short residential street, off Highway 55, shortly before 4 p.m. Friday.

The cause of the crash remains under investigation.