13-Year-Old Drove Truck Involved In Lethal Highway Crash, Authorities Say

A 13-year-old boy driving a pickup truck Tuesday evening struck a van head-on in west Texas, killing nine people, including himself, his father, and six college golfers from New Mexico’s University of the Southwest, the Associated Press reported.

The National Transportation Safety Board announced Thursday that it was a 13-year-old illegally driving the car in Andrews County, about 30 miles away from New Mexico, The New York Post reported. (RELATED: Pete Alonso’s Wife Shares Terrifying Videos Of His Car Accident)

Family and friends say they are heartbroken after six students and a coach from a small New Mexico university were killed in a fiery crash while returning home from a golf tournament in Texas. https://t.co/T8ZD5gAjNK

— PBS NewsHour (@NewsHour) March 17, 2022

The car crossed the middle of a two-lane highway and struck a 2017 Ford Transit van towing a box trailer, the Associated Press reported.

The Texas Department of Public Safety identified the deceased as: Golf coach Tyler James, 26, of Hobbs, New Mexico; and players Mauricio Sanchez, 19, of Mexico; Travis Garcia, 19, of Pleasanton, Texas; Jackson Zinn, 22, of Westminster, Colorado; Karisa Raines, 21, of Fort Stockton, Texas; Laci Stone, 18, of Nocona, Texas; and Tiago Sousa, 18, of Portugal, the AP reported.

Jackson Zinn of Westminster, CO was one of 9 people killed in a crash in Texas on Tuesday

Jackson & his golf team were driving back to their college in New Mexico

Police say a pickup truck hit their van. Driver & passenger of that car died – along with 6 students & their coach pic.twitter.com/YnRvsrX9RF

— Kelly Reinke (@KellyReinkeTV) March 17, 2022

“We don’t know what happened,” June James, Tyler James’ mother, told the AP. “It’s a huge investigation. We don’t have any idea as of yet.”

The 38-year-old father of the alleged driver, Henrich Siemens, of Seminole County, Texas, also died. Siemens accompanied the teen while reportedly en route to pick up a new vehicle, according to the AP.

A helicopter transported injured Canadian USW student athletes Hayden Underhill and Dayton Price 110 miles northeast to the University Medical Center in Lubbock, Texas, the outlet reported.

USW teammate Jasmin Collum visited her parents in Houston instead of playing in the tournament. “We knew all those people on board,” said Collum’s mother, Tonya. “Basically the whole team is gone or in the hospital.”