Nine people killed in crash involving University of the Southwest golf teams
Nine people died in a fiery, head-on collision in West Texas, including six students and a coach from a New Mexico university who were returning home from a golf tournament, authorities said.
Sgt. Steven Blanco of the Texas Department of Public Safety said a pickup truck crossed the center line of a highway Tuesday night and crashed into a vehicle carrying members of the University of the Southwest men's and women's golf teams. They had been returning from a tournament in Midland, Texas.
Blanco said six students were killed, along with a faculty member. He said two students were taken by helicopter to a Lubbock hospital in critical condition.
"It's a very tragic scene," Blanco said. "It's very, very tragic."
University president Quint Thurman said in a statement earlier Wednesday that the teams' vehicle was being driven by golf coach Tyler James and that James was among the dead.
"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 in the statement.
The driver of the pickup and its passenger were also killed, Blanco said.
"USW is coordinating with Texas DPS to assist with the investigation and public information efforts," the school, a private, Christian college located in Hobbs, New Mexico, said in a statement. "University administration is communicating with families of the students and coaching staff to provide more information as it becomes available."
The crash happened in the same area -- but not the same roadway -- where three people were killed in November when a pickup truck crashed into a school bus carrying members of the Andrews High School band. The high school's band director, the school bus driver and the driver of the pickup truck all died in that crash.
Nine people died in a fiery, head-on collision in West Texas, including six students and a coach from a New Mexico university who were returning home from a golf tournament, authorities said.
Sgt. Steven Blanco of the Texas Department of Public Safety said a pickup truck crossed the center line of a highway Tuesday night and crashed into a vehicle carrying members of the University of the Southwest men's and women's golf teams. They had been returning from a tournament in Midland, Texas.
Blanco said six students were killed, along with a faculty member. He said two students were taken by helicopter to a Lubbock hospital in critical condition.
"It's a very tragic scene," Blanco said. "It's very, very tragic."
University president Quint Thurman said in a statement earlier Wednesday that the teams' vehicle was being driven by golf coach Tyler James and that James was among the dead.
"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 in the statement.
The driver of the pickup and its passenger were also killed, Blanco said.
"USW is coordinating with Texas DPS to assist with the investigation and public information efforts," the school, a private, Christian college located in Hobbs, New Mexico, said in a statement. "University administration is communicating with families of the students and coaching staff to provide more information as it becomes available."
The crash happened in the same area -- but not the same roadway -- where three people were killed in November when a pickup truck crashed into a school bus carrying members of the Andrews High School band. The high school's band director, the school bus driver and the driver of the pickup truck all died in that crash.
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