UPDATED: 3/17/22 4:49AM
UPDATED 3/17/22
Associated Press HOBBS, N.M. (AP) – A National Transportation Safety Board spokesman says a 13-year-old was driving the pickup truck that struck a van in West Texas in a fiery collision that killed nine people. NTSB Vice Chairman Bruce Landsberg said Thursday the truck’s left front tire, which was a spare tire, also blew out before impact.
One must be 14 in Texas to start taking classroom courses for a learner’s license and 15 to receive that provisional license to drive with an instructor or licensed adult in the vehicle. The pickup crossed into the opposite lane on a darkened, two-lane highway before colliding head-on with a van, killing the boy, a man traveling with him, six New Mexico college students and a golf coach.
HOBBS, NM-AP (WBAP/KLIF) – An 18-year old freshman student from Nocoma, Texas, about 100 miles NW of Dallas was among victims of a tragic crash that killed 6 members of the men’s and women’s golf teams at the University of Soutwest in Hobbs, TX. The mother of Laci Stone told our media partner WFAA-TV that her daughter loved to golf, was the life of the party and had a heart the size of Texas.
Meantime, family and friends of all of the victims are heartbroken and devastated. The crash also took the life of the team’s coach.
Friends say coach Tyler James (pictured right) had just landed his dream job leading the teams at the University of the Southwest in Hobbs. James was driving the van, transporting the team back to campus when authorities say a pickup truck crossed into the opposite lane on a darkened, two-lane highway.
Six students who died were from Texas, Colorado, Mexico and Portugal. Two students from Canada are hospitalized in critical condition.
A donation site has been established for the families. Click here to here.
Original post: 3/16/17
ANDREWS, Texas (AP) — A vehicle carrying members of the University of the Southwest’s golf teams collided head-on with a pickup truck on a two-lane road in West Texas, killing multiple people including some students and the teams’ coach, officials said.
According to Texas DPS, the fatal crash happened on FM 1788 on March 15. The crash killed 9 people, including 6 college students and the men and women’s golf coach.
A Ford passenger van that was registered by USW was traveling northbound, while a Dodge 2500 pickup was traveling southbound. For unknown reasons, the pickup truck drove into the van head on caused both vehicles to catch on fire and burn.
The vehicles crashed Tuesday night in Andrews County and Sgt. Steven Blanco of the Texas Department of Public Safety told KWES-TV there were fatalities in both vehicles, but the number of dead wasn’t immediately released.
“It’s a very tragic scene,” Blanco said. “It’s very, very tragic.”
A bus was carrying members of the New Mexico university’s men’s and women’s golf teams from a tournament in Midland, Texas. The school said in a statement that nine people, including the coach, were on board the bus and that initial reports indicated that seven of them were killed, but the investigation was still underway.
Two passengers were in critical condition at a Lubbock hospital, the school 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,” University President Quint Thurman said in a statement.
The University of the Southwest is a private, Christian college located in Hobbs, New Mexico, near the state’s border with Texas. The teams had been scheduled to play in a tournament Tuesday at Midland College, about 315 miles (505 kilometers) west of Dallas.
The university said on Twitter that it was working to notify family members of those involved in the crash, and counseling and religious services would be available on campus.
The Associated Press. All rights reserved.