COLFAX, ND — The injured in a rear-end collision Saturday evening, June 8, near Colfax have been identified.

According to the North Dakota Highway Patrol, the accident occurred around 10:08 p.m. Saturday when police and other emergency personnel responded to an ambulance that had caught fire.

Traffic was backed up on Interstate 29 near mile marker 35, about three miles southeast of Colfax. Donald Lawuya, a 28-year-old Fargo man, approached the traffic jam and did not notice the stopped traffic, according to the Highway Patrol.

Lawuya's 2015 BMW 335 struck a 2020 Mazda CX-5 driven by Jodi Erfle. Erfle's Mazda then struck a 2023 Ford F150 driven by Paul Schnaible, who in turn struck a 2022 Subaru Forester driven by Matthew Jorgenson.

Lawuya and his passenger, 22-year-old Donya Eaya of Sioux Falls, were both injured.

Erfle, a 59-year-old woman from West Fargo, was not wearing a seatbelt and was also injured.

Schnaible, a 66-year-old Sioux Falls resident, was uninjured. Julie Schnaible, a 64-year-old Sioux Falls woman, and Mary Severson, a 91-year-old Fargo woman, were both in the F150 and were injured.

Matthew Jorgenson, 62, and passenger Lisa Jorgenson, both of Fargo, were uninjured. Susan Helms, a 55-year-old woman from Fargo, was also a passenger in the Subaru and was injured.

In total, six of the nine motorists involved in the crash were injured. Erfle's injuries were considered serious and life-threatening, according to the Highway Patrol, while the other injuries were not considered life-threatening.

Lawuya was arrested at Sanford Hospital for driving under the influence, refusal to license to drive under the influence, and driving while license suspended.

The ambulance driver, 71-year-old Webster, South Dakota native David Dulitz, another paramedic and an unidentified patient safely escaped the fire, the Highway Patrol said Sunday.

The North Dakota Highway Patrol continues to investigate the accident.

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