14 killed in Goliad truck crash, 10 injured
DPS: 23 people were in truck


14 die in single-vehicle crash in Goliad
GOLIAD, Texas - Fourteen people died and another nine were injured after a pickup truck overloaded with passengers left a highway and crashed into trees in a rural South Texas community Sunday, authorities said.

The white Ford F-250 pickup was heading north on U.S. 59 when it went off the road and struck two large trees Sunday at 6:30 p.m. in the unincorporated community of Berclair, about 100 miles southeast of San Antonio, said Gerald Bryant, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Public Safety.

DPS officials said a dozen people were taken to various hospitals in San Antonio, Victoria, and Corpus Christi. Bryant said several of the surviving victims had life-threatening injuries. He did not have their conditions, but said he believed them to be "very serious."


Houston man says he sold vehicle in...
PHOTOS: Pickup truck crash kills 13
The agency said 23 people, including some children, were in the cab and bed of the truck.

Eleven people died at the scene and three more died after being taken to a hospital. Two of the victims were described as "young children." Six of the dead were found inside the truck. The five others were ejected from the back of the vehicle.

State troopers and Goliad County sheriff's investigators were investigating what prompted the one-vehicle crash, and have not released names and ages of the victims. Most of them were from Honduras, Bryant said.

"This is the most people I've seen in any passenger vehicle, and I've been an officer for 38 years," Bryant said, referring to the chaotic scene. "The accident scene with all the officers in there, it was a very solemn scene. All of the victims were treated with respect. It's almost unbelievable the number of injured and killed in this crash."

Crash investigators were on the scene for eight hours assessing the crash, which halted traffic on U.S. 59.

"It's a straight road. Pavement was dry. Weather was clear. What caused him to run off the road? That's under investigation," Bryan said.

The initial investigation points to a tire blowout.

The pickup truck was registered to a west Houston man. KPRC Local 2 tracked down that man, and he said he sold the pickup truck about three months ago. He declined to provide any proof of the transaction. State records do not reflect any change in ownership, but it may have been sold and the new owner may not have registered it.

The registered owner of the vehicle said none of his family members were hurt or killed in the crash.

Agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the border patrol were assisting in the investigation. Officials have not said if the vehicle was being used to transport illegal immigrants into the United States.


PHOTOS: Pickup truck crash kills 13Published On: Jul 23 2012 07:12:38 AM CDT Updated On: Jul 23 2012 11:32:55 AM CDT Small Text Medium Text Large Text Print Email
A pickup truck slams into two trees, killing 13 people in the cab and bed of the vehicle.

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WOW they must have been flying. HAHA

 

DAMN@#@!
Had to be messy...

 

The survivors families in Honduras will probably try to sue Ford now, or maybe the tire manufacturer.

Jess

 

Below is my comment on Autoblog to someone questioning why everyone assumed it was Mexicans.

"Could have been leprechauns, but wasn't. You keep living in the land of Rainbows and Unicorns, while those of us in the real world try to fix problems instead of acting like they don't exist."

Yeah, that pretty much sums it up. I'm going out on a limb and saying it wasn't 23 nuns packed into a Super Duty.

 

wrapped up like a burrito of death...


personal experience has shown me that the van full of Mexicans always lets the drunkest one drive.

 

I know right where it happened we have had a deer lease in Goliad for the last 12 years and not far from where the Texas Mile is held. One thing we do grow strong oak trees in Texas, heres a pic with the trees.

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they left out the part about chasing the truck 1st..

 

My cousin broke the frame on his F-250 in a rollover accident when he was drunk. Truck sat there in his field for awhile with the middle of the frame sitting on the ground, while it still had all four tires on it. His best friend died in that accident, but my cousin made it out with a broken arm. Sometimes a big old heavy truck helps, and sometimes it doesn't make a bit of difference.

 

If you just take an average weight of 150lbs per person that means there was 3450lbs in just people in the truck, i think there was 3 kids but im sure most of the aldults weighed more than 150 so it could be a little higher. Hell here it's against the law for anybody to ride in the bed of an open bed truck how they thought they were going to make it down Hwy 59 like that beats the hell out of me.

 

The paper here said they were all illegal. If that is the case why are they investigating. They weren't suppose to be there in the first place.

More tax payer money being waisted.

 

Somebody farted.

 

They said today that it was a front tire blow out.