Multiple fatalities have been reported after a college bus carrying a golf team crashed into a Ford truck on a highway.
Nine people including six student-athletes and their coach were killed in a fiery crash between a pickup truck and a van carrying members of the University of the Southwest’s men’s and women’s golf teams. Head coach Tyler James and team member Laci Stone were both killed in the crash.
The horror smash happened on Highway 115 in Midland, Texas, at around 8:17 pm local time on Tuesday just outside Andrews, Texas, the Texas Department of Public Safety said.
The teams were on their way back to their New Mexico campus from a golf tournament in West Texas when the bus hit a Dodge 2500 pickup in Andrews County. There are fatalities in both vehicles.
DPS Sgt. Steven Blanco, from the Texas Department of Public Safety, said in a statement: “A Dodge 2500 pickup was traveling southbound on FM 1788. A Ford Transit passenger van registered to the University of the Southwest in Hobbs, NM was traveling northbound on FM 1788.”
“For unknown reasons, the Dodge pickup drove into the northbound lane and struck the Ford passenger van head on. Both vehicles caught fire and burned,” he added.
The DPS said that six students and one faculty member aboard the university van were killed and the driver and a passenger in the pickup truck also died.
The students killed in the crash were Mauricio Sanchez, Travis Garcia, Jackson Zinn, Karisa Raines, and Tiago Sousa. Dayton Price and Hayden Underhill were listed in critical condition. Henrich Siemens, 38, the driver of the other vehicle was also killed in the crash, along with a 13-year-old boy who was with him at the time.
The University President Quint Thurman of the Southwest confirmed there had been a fatal bus accident involving the university’s men’s and women’s golf teams.
President Thurman said: “We are still learning the details about the accident but we are devastated and deeply saddened to learn about the loss of our students’ lives and their coach.”
Thurman said the two students who survived have been airlifted to a hospital in Lubbock. According to News Channel 6, Laci’s death was confirmed by her mother on social media.
When asked by NBC if the two airlifted were the only two to survive in the van, President Thurman said: “As far as I know, yes.” The condition of the other passengers remains unknown, the college didn’t say how many people had died in the crash.
The University of Southwest told The US Sun that the school will provide updates on social media as they become available. Coach James reportedly entered his first season as the head coach of the men’s and women’s golf program, according to an online biography.
Nocona ISD Athletics also named the student as it canceled its games as a sign of respect. It wrote on Facebook: “Right now our community is heartbroken over the tragic loss of one of our own. Please keep the family of Laci Stone in your prayers!”
Thurman said the vehicle was a 12-passenger van driven by the coach and speculated that he thinks eight students may have been onboard. The university is a Christian college based in Hobbs, New Mexico, its website states.
Sgt. Blanco told NBC: “It’s a very tragic scene.” He said that both vehicles had suffered “heavy damage” and it’s not known how many people were inside the bus in total. Investigations into the crash remain ongoing.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott released a statement in tribute to the victims on Wednesday. He said: “We grieve with the loved ones of the individuals whose lives were horrifically taken too soon in this fatal vehicle crash near Andrews.”
“The Texas Department of Public Safety is working closely with local officials to investigate this accident, and we offer our full support to the University of the Southwest and the state of New Mexico. I ask Texans to join Cecilia and me in praying for the families of those whose lives were lost and for the recovery of two critically injured students,” he added.
Recommended Video For You!
Forget jelly and ice cream – birthday party bus for seven year olds promises makeovers