Nine people, including six students and a coach from a New Mexico university’s golf teams, were killed in a head-on collision in West Texas, the state’s Department of Public Safety said. Sgt. Steven Blanco said a pickup truck crossed the center line of a highway Tuesday night and crashed into a van carrying members of the University of the Southwest men’s and women’s golf teams.
The teams had been returning from a tournament in Midland, Texas. Blanco said six students were killed, along with a faculty member. The driver of the pickup and its passenger were also killed.
Nine passengers, including a coach, were in the school’s vehicle, according to the university. The school confirmed golf head coach Tyler James was among the dead. James’ bio on the school’s athletics site said he was in his first season leading the golf program and had worked as a coach in Texas.
Two students were taken by helicopter to a Lubbock hospital in critical condition, Blanco said. University President Quint Thurman said in a statement to NBC News the students suffered “serious injuries.”
No other details were immediately provided about the people involved in the crash.
“It’s a very tragic scene,” Blanco said. “It’s very, very tragic.”
Ryan Tipton, the university’s vice president of academic affairs, told CBS News it’s a “very difficult time” for the school.
“Because we are such a small campus and such a tight-knit community … in times of crisis, we come together as a family, and today, everybody in southeastern New Mexico, in West Texas, today, everybody’s a Mustang,” Tipton said, referring to the school’s mascot.
In a statement Wednesday morning, Blanco identified the vehicles involved as a Ford Transit passenger van and a Dodge 2500 pickup.
The golf teams had been scheduled to play in a tournament Tuesday at Midland College, about 315 miles west of Dallas. The college said Wednesday’s play would be canceled because of the crash. Eleven schools are participating in the event.
The University of the Southwest is a private, Christian college located in Hobbs, New Mexico, near the state’s border with Texas.
The university said on Facebook that it was working to notify family members of those involved in the crash, and counseling and religious services would be available on campus.
The crash was under investigation, Blanco said. The roadway where the crash occurred in Andrews County was closed early Wednesday.
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.
