Texas: 13-year-old kills himself while driving a pickup truck, 9 dead in collision

A 13-year-old boy was driving a pickup truck that collided with a van carrying a college golf team in Texas, killing nine people, authorities said Thursday.

  

Six members of a New Mexico college golf team and their coach died in the accident, which occurred Tuesday night in West Texas, police said. The 13-year-old and his 38-year-old father also died.

  

On the night of the accident, the pickup truck in which they were riding swerved into the opposite lane of traffic, hitting the van head-on, according to Texas authorities. Both vehicles then caught fire. The teenager was behind the wheel at the time of the crash, Bruce Landsberg of the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board told local station KWES TV.

  

At age 13, driving is not allowed in Texas. You must wait until age 15 to obtain an accompanying driver's license to drive alongside a licensed adult.

 

The left front tire of the pickup appears to have blown out prior to the accident, which occurred while both vehicles were traveling at a high rate of speed, Landsberg said. Two Canadian students remain hospitalized in critical condition.