Driver injured when car hits embankment, trees in northeast Nebraska

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) — A man was seriously injured Sunday when his car crashed into several trees in northeast Nebraska.

The crash happened about 5:15 p.m. on Highway 32, about 4 miles east of Madison, the Stanton County Sheriff’s Office said.

Authorities said 26-year-old Dillon Palen of Council Bluffs, Iowa, was headed east when he left the road at a high speed.

The vehicle went into the north ditch, struck an embankment, flew through the air and hit several trees, the sheriff’s office said.

The car came to a stop with its rear propped up against a large tree.

Passersby found Palen, who was helped from the car and taken to a Norfolk hospital.

On Sunday night, he was flown to the Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha.

The sheriff’s office said that Palen was wearing a seat belt and that airbags saved his life.

The vehicle was destroyed, and the sheriff’s office said it took “extra effort” to remove the wreckage from the trees.