A vehicle carrying members of the University of the Southwest golf team collided head-on with a pickup truck in West Texas, killing multiple people, authorities said.
The vehicles collided Tuesday night in Andrews County. Sgt. Steven Blanco of the Texas Department of Public Safety told KWES-TV there were fatalities in both vehicles, but the number of dead wasn’t immediately released.
“It’s a very tragic scene,” Blanco said. “It’s very, very tragic.”
University president Quint Thurman said in a statement that Tyler James, who coached the men’s and women’s golf teams, was among those killed.
“We are still learning the details about the accident, but we are devastated and deeply saddened to learn about the loss of our students’ lives and their coach,” Thurman said, adding that two students had been airlifted to a hospital with serious injuries.
The vehicle was transporting members of the golf teams from a tournament in the West Texas area, Blanco said. The other vehicle involved in the crash was a Ford F-150.
The University of the Southwest, which is located in New Mexico, tweeted that it was working to notify family members of those involved in the crash and that counseling and religious services would be available on campus.
The crash was under investigation, Blanco said, and details about the number of people in each vehicle weren’t immediately released. The roadway where the crash occurred was closed early Wednesday.
The teams had been scheduled to play in a tournament Tuesday at Midland College, about 315 miles west of Dallas.
The University of the Southwest is a private, Christian college located in Hobbs, New Mexico, near the state’s border with Texas.
The crash happened in the same area — but not the same roadway — where three people were killed in November when a pickup truck crashed into a school bus carrying members of the Andrews High School band. The high school’s band director, the school bus driver and the driver of the pickup truck all died in that crash.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.