(Newser)
–
Tragedy in Texas, where at least 13 people are dead and 10 injured after a pickup truck carrying 23 passengers—crammed into both the cab and the bed—ran into two large trees. "This is the most people I've seen in any passenger vehicle, and I've been an officer for 38 years," a spokesman for the Texas Department of Public Safety tells the AP. No names or ages have been reported, but the spokesman says at least two young children were killed.
The Ford F-250 veered off the highway around 7pm last night; a trooper tells KRIS-TV it looks like a tire blew before the truck left the road. Six of the dead were found still inside the truck and five were outside; another Department of Public Safety rep confirms to NBC News that an additional two victims died in local hospitals. A man who said he was driving was ejected but survived, the San Antonio Express-News reports, and several of the other survivors have "very serious" life-threatening injuries. Some witnesses say the accident may have involved illegal immigrants, and Border Patrol is investigating.
