Officials have identified the six members of the University of the Southwest golf team who perished in a fiery car crash in Texas on Tuesday night.
The deceased students are: Mauricio Sanchez, 19, of Mexico; Travis Garcia, 19, of Pleasanton, Texas; Jackson Zinn, 22, of Westminster, Colorado; Karissa Raines, 21, of Fort Stockton, Texas; Laci Stone, 18, of Nocona Texas; and Tiago Sousa, 18, of Portugal.
“Last night Laci’s golf team was involved in a crash leaving a golf tournament. Our sweet Laci didn’t make it,” Ms Stone’s mother, Chelsi Stone, posted on Facebook. “Our Laci is gone! She has been an absolute ray of sunshine during this short time on earth.”
Golf coach Tyler James was also killed, CBS7 reports.
“The USW campus community is shocked and saddened today as we mourn the loss of members of our university family,” Maria Duarte, a school spokesperson, said in a statement.
Members of the USW men’s and women’s golf team were heading back to Hobbs, New Mexico, from a tournament in Midland, Texas, when an oncoming truck drove into their lane and the two vehicles collided head-on, the university said in a statement.
“It’s a very tragic scene,” Sergeant Steven Blanco of the Texas Department of Public Safety told ESPN. “It’s very, very tragic.”
Two other students were airlifted to the University Medical Center in Lubbock, Texas, in critical condition.
“This is a terrible accident,” New Mexico governor Michelle Lujan Grisham wrote on Facebook after the crash. “As we await additional information from authorities, my prayers are with the community and the loved ones of all those involved.”
The driver of the Dodge pickup truck and their passenger also died in the crash, which caused both vehicles to catch fire.
According to the Texas Department of Public Safety, Henrich Siemens, 38, of Seminole, Texas, was driving the truck, with an unnamed 13-year-old male passenger onboard.
The Texas Highway Patrol and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the incident.
The NTSB is sending a 12-person “go team” to the crash site to perform further analysis.
The crash occurred on a two-lane farm road where the speed limit is 75 mph, according to the NTSB.
The tournament where the team had competed, hosted by Midland College at the Ranchland Hills Golf Course in Midland, Texas, has been canceled.
A donation fund has been set up by USW for the victims and their families.
