College Golf Team Involved in Terrible Bus Crash
Nine people died in a head-on collision in West Texas Tuesday night (March 15th) involving a bus carrying the golf team from the University of the Southwest from Hobbs, New Mexico.
A pickup truck crossed the centerline of a highway and crashed into the bus carrying members of both the men's and women's golf teams. The teams were headed back to Hobbs after a golf tournament in Midland, Texas.
According to a release from the university, seven people from the golf teams died and two more are in critical condition in Lubbock.
"USW is coordinating with Texas DPS to assist with the investigation and public information efforts," the school, a private Christian college located in Hobbs, New Mexico, said in a Twitter post. "University administration is communicating with families of the students and coaching staff to provide more information as it becomes available."
According to Texas DPS, it was six students and a faculty member. The two in critical condition are students and were taken by helicopter to a Lubbock hospital in critical condition. Two more died from the truck that crashed into the bus, making nine total fatalities.
USW President Quint Thurman said in a statement Wednesday that the teams' vehicle was being driven by golf coach Tyler James and that James was among the dead.
"We're still learning the details about the accident but we are devastated and deeply saddened to learn about the loss of our student's lives and their coach," Thurman said in the statement.
The crash happened in the same general area of the fatal bus crash involving the Andrews high school band last November when a similar situation happened. The high school's band director, the school bus driver, and the driver of the pickup truck all died in that crash.