A 13-year-old boy was behind the wheel of a pickup truck that struck a van in Texas on Tuesday evening in a collision that killed 9 individuals, together with a school golf coach and 6 of his gamers, together with the boy and a person touring with him, officers stated on Thursday.
Bruce Landsberg, vice chairman of the Nationwide Transportation Security Board, stated at a information convention that the truck’s left entrance tire was a spare that had blown out earlier than the truck veered into the lane the golf staff’s van was touring in and struck the van head-on. It was unclear at what speeds the automobiles have been touring, however Mr. Landsberg famous that the velocity restrict within the space is 75 miles per hour.
“It was very clearly a high-speed, head-on collision between two heavy automobiles,” he stated. “There is no such thing as a query in regards to the power of affect.” Each automobiles went up in flames within the collision close to Andrews, Texas, about 50 miles east of the state line with New Mexico.
It was unclear why the 13-year-old boy, whose title was not launched by the authorities on Thursday, was driving the truck. Henrich Siemens, 38, of Seminole County, Texas, who was additionally within the truck, was killed within the collision, the authorities stated.
The College of the Southwest recognized the victims from that establishment as Tyler James, 26, the coach, and the student-athletes Travis Garcia, Karisa Raines, Mauricio Sanchez, Tiago Sousa, Laci Stone and Jackson Zinn. A lot of the golfers have been freshmen on the college, a personal, Christian establishment in Hobbs, N.M. Mexico, close to the state line with Texas.
Two golfer gamers who have been within the van, Dayton Value and Hayden Underhill, have been critically injured however survived the crash, they usually have been present process medical therapy in Lubbock, Texas, on Thursday, a spokesman for the college stated at a information convention.
Ryan Tipton, provost of College of the Southwest, stated on Thursday that each gamers have been “making regular progress.”
“One of many college students is consuming hen soup,” Mr. Tipton stated. “Day by day it’s a sport of inches. There is no such thing as a indication of how lengthy it’s going to take, however they’re each steady and recovering and daily making extra progress.”
In Texas, 14-year-olds can start a classroom section of a driver’s schooling course, however they can not apply for a learner’s license till they’re 15, based on the Texas Division of Public Security.
In a press release on Wednesday, Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas stated state officers have been serving to to research the collision.
“We grieve with the family members of the people whose lives have been horrifically taken too quickly on this deadly car crash close to Andrews final evening,” Mr. Abbott stated.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham of New Mexico stated on Wednesday that she was “deeply saddened” by the information.
“It is a horrible, tragic accident,” she stated.