Associated Press

OWATONNA — A 17-year-old boy was killed when a landscape block fell off a truck and crashed through the windshield of a van in Steele County.

The State Patrol says Steven Batt of Waseca was a front seat passenger in the van driven by his 16-year-old friend.

Sheriff’s deputies say some retaining wall blocks were strapped on the truck’s trailer, but one somehow fell off on Highway 14 west of Owatonna Tuesday afternoon. The van was heading in the opposite direction when the block crashed through the windshield. Authorities tell the Owatonna People’s Press that the boy was killed instantly.