Crashes snarl I-35 near Pine City

I-35W crash
A crash scene on I-35W near Pine City, Minn. on Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2013.
Trisha Volpe / MPR News

A handful of vehicles in ditches along the same stretch of Interstate 35 near the Pine City, Minn., exit late Tuesday morning involved two or three separate crashes, according to the Minnesota State Patrol.

"It's unclear exactly what occurred, some crashed, others went off the road," said Eric Roeske, public information officer for the Minnesota State Patrol.

The crashes involved six vehicles. One overturned. Two people with minor injuries were taken by ambulance to a hospital in Sandstone, Minn.

The crashes began just after 11 a.m. on the interstate's Snake River Bridge, Roeske said.

Traffic was backed up for more than an hour after the crashes.