Watford City man dies after collision with semi truck

WILLISTON, N.D. — A 29-year-old man from Watford City died after he lost control of his pickup and collided with a semi truck on Highway 85 Friday evening.

Road conditions were icy with blowing snow due to high winds, and a no travel advisory had been posted at the time of the incident, which occurred around 6:28 p.m. near mile marker 178, about five miles south of Williston, according to a press release from the North Dakota Highway Patrol.

Bona Son, the driver of the pickup truck, a 2018 Ford F-350, was driving south and lost control of his vehicle and crossed into the northbound lanes, according to the North Dakota Highway Patrol. Both vehicles collided and Son was ejected from his truck and later pronounced dead at the scene.

Kenneth Schafer, 67, of Bridger, Montana, the driver of the semi truck, which was a 2014 Western Star Truck hauling a pneumatic sand trailer, was transported to CHI St. Alexius in Williston, according to the North Dakota Highway Patrol. Schafer suffered serious non-life threatening injuries.

The incident remains under investigation by the North Dakota Highway Patrol.

The North Dakota Highway Patrol, the McKenzie County Sheriff's Office, the Williston Rural Fire Department and the Williston Fire EMS responded to the scene.