In a tragic incident three members of an Indian-origin family and two others had died in a car accident in the US state of Texas.
The deceased, identified as Arvind Mani (45), his wife Pradeepa Arvind (40) and their 17-year-old daughter Andril Arvind, were from Leander.
The accident occurred on Wednesday near Lampasas County in Texas after Arvind Mani-driven Kia Telluride collided with a Cadillac CTS.
The family’s only surviving immediate kin, 14-year-old son Adiryan, was not in the vehicle with them.
Mani and his wife were driving their daughter to college in North Texas and had left their son behind because he started school that day.
Andril graduated from Rouse High School and was going to attend the University of Dallas, where she planned to study computer science.
According to the Texas Department of Public Safety, a 2004 Cadillac CTS driven by 31-year-old Jacinto Gudino Duran, of Copperas Cove, was heading southbound on US Route 281 at the same time a 2024 Kia Telluride, operated by Mani, was heading northbound.
Evidence at the scene showed the right rear tyre of the Cadillac had a blowout, crash investigators were quoted as saying by FOX10TV.com.
The Texas Department of Public Safety said the blowout caused the driver of the Cadillac to lose control and cross over to the northbound lane into the Kia’s path.
According to witnesses, the vehicle had passed them at a high speed before the collision took place.
“It is one of the worst crashes I have seen in 26 years because of the magnitude of the damage and amount of people lost,” said Texas Department of Public Safety Trooper Bryan Washko.
Total five casualties, including of Jacinto Gudino Duran and 23-year-old Cadillac passenger named Yosilu Gasman Martinez-Lopez of Copperas Cove, were reported in the car crash.
All five people in both vehicles were pronounced dead at the accident scene.
