GEORGE WEST, Texas (AP) — A minivan attempting to overtake a vehicle in a no-passing zone on a Texas highway crashed head-on into an SUV, which was then rear-ended by one other vehicle, authorities said. Six people died and five others were injured.
The crash happened around 6:20 p.m. Friday near George West, about 60 miles (100 kilometers) northwest of Corpus Christi, said Sgt. Guadalupe Casarez of the Texas Department of Public Safety.
“It was a fairly drastic scene,” Casarez said.
The crash remained under investigation Monday, based on the Texas Department of Public Safety. However the department said in a news release that a minivan traveling south on U.S. Highway 59 tried to pass in a no-passing zone and crashed head-on into the northbound SUV. A sedan then slammed into the back of the SUV.
The driving force of the minivan, Xochitl Veronica Lopez, 39, of Houston, died on the scene, together with a juvenile passenger within the minivan, the department said.
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The driving force of the SUV, Salvador Almeda Mendoza, 47, of Ganado, Texas, was also killed, together with two passengers, Ilda Briones Nieves, 58, and Honorio Lazo Navarro, 74, each of Ganado.
The sixth person killed was a passenger within the sedan whose name has not been released.
Five other people were taken to a hospital with “non-incapacitating injuries,” the general public safety department said.
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