The Associated Press
ASHERTON, Texas — A van slammed into a toppled tanker truck carrying oil, killing five men in a fiery crash Thursday on a South Texas highway, officials said.
The tanker truck had rolled onto its side about 7 a.m. after it struck a pickup that had slowed on U.S. 83 near Asherton, about 115 miles south of San Antonio, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety. The van carrying the five men then struck the truck’s tank, as did another vehicle, said DPS Trooper Maria Loredo. Both the van and the other vehicle burst into flames.
The men were traveling to their homes in Laredo when they were killed, Loredo said. The driver of the other vehicle was airlifted to a San Antonio hospital with severe burns.
Isaac Garcia, an oil field worker, said he was delivering some pipe when he came across the wreck.
“There were just flames all over the place,” he said. “It took seconds for it to light up the way it did.”
Garcia said it was the second accident he has seen in that spot.
“You’ve got to be real cautious on that road,” he said. “With wet conditions and oil mixed with mud (coming off 18-wheelers), it’s just meant for accidents to happen.”