Minnesota woman dies, 3 hurt when car backs into crowd at Iowa parade

SLATER, Iowa — A Minnesota woman was killed and three people were injured Saturday after a driver backed into a crowd after an Independence Day parade in a central Iowa city, authorities said.

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Mary Nienow, 59, of Albert Lea, Minnesota, was killed after the parade in Slater, the Des Moines Register reported. According to the Iowa State Patrol, Karen Wheeler, 75, of Cambridge, backed her 2007 Hyundai Sonata out of a parking space and into the pedestrians, The Gazette of Cedar Rapids reported.

Reagan Powell, 6, of Huxley, was dragged under the car and was flown by air ambulance to a hospital, the newspaper reported. Rikki Powell, 30, of Huxley, and Linda Nordstrom, 67, also of Huxley, were also injured and were taken to an area hospital, The Gazette reported.

All four people were dragged under the vehicle, state police said.

“It was a blur. My adrenaline was going,” Dan McCrady, who helped lift the vehicle, told KCCI. “We just got to the front of the car and counted to three and we were able to lift it up, thankfully.

“I knew there were people under the car, I didn’t know how many, who it was. I just know we had to get it up.”

Slater Mayor John Kahler told the Register that the crash occurred about 12 minutes after the parade ended.

“This just happened to be an unfortunate accident where some elderly people seemed to be leaving the situation quickly and lost control of their vehicle,” the mayor said.

The crash remains under investigation, The Gazette reported. No charges were announced Saturday.

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