Six people died and five were injured in a car crash on Friday on Texas Highway 59 in the East Texas coastal region.
The crash occurred at 6:20 p.m., according to Sgt. Guadalupe Casarez of the Texas Department of Public Safety, near George West, which is 60 miles northwest of Corpus Christi.
The apparent cause of the crash was a southbound minivan attempting to pass a car in a no-passing zone. This maneuver caused the minivan to crash head-on into a northbound SUV. A sedan following the SUV then rear-ended it.
“It was a pretty drastic scene,” Casarez said.
Casarez said the vehicle that was being passed was not hit. There was no reported evidence of drunk driving involved in the crash.
Xochitl Veronica Lopez, 39, of Houston, drove the minivan and was killed in the crash. A juvenile riding in the car with Lopez was also killed in the crash.
Salvador Almeda Mendoza, 47, the SUV driver, was also killed. Two of his passengers also died: Ilda Briones Nieves, 58, and Honorio Lazo Navarro, 74. All three were from Ganado, Texas.
A sixth person in another car was also killed, but that individual’s name has not yet been released to the public.
Five people were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
