Texas: Five dead in multiple crash involving 17 vehicles

Five people have been found dead after a collision involving multiple vehicles and a semi-truck occurred Thursday night in Texas.

The accident happened at approximately 11:23 pm in Austin, Texas, on the 12,900 block of North IH-35 southbound, according to Captain Krista Stedman, Public Information Officer for Austin-Travis County EMS.

Emergency crews arrived to find multiple patients pinned in their vehicles, with a total of 17 patients and 17 vehicles involved, officials said.

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“In total, five were found dead at the scene—including three adults, one child, and one infant—while 11 others were taken to the hospital,” authorities stated. The names and conditions of those involved have not yet been released.

“This incident was incredibly chaotic, and it was spread out over about a 10th of a mile,” Stedman said.

So, without the collaboration of our partners, we would not have been able to manage the scene as well as we did. We were able to get all the critical patients off the scene within about 40 minutes and, considering how complex the scene was, that’s pretty impressive,” he said.

Authorities are investigating the cause of the crash, but they cautioned that determining exactly what happened may take time.

“The vehicular homicide unit is doing their job,” said Thayer Smith, Assistant Chief of the Austin Fire Department, during a press conference.

They’re going to do an investigation, which is why the highway may be closed for an extended period of time, because it is a very lengthy process”, he said.

(ABC News)