A North Texas semitruck driver was arrested early Sunday morning after state officials say he fell asleep at the wheel and caused a pileup that left at least five people dead and several others injured.
Alexis Gonzalez-Companioni, 27, was charged with five counts of manslaughter and one count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, jail records show. His bond is set at $1.5 million. The investigation is ongoing.
Gonzalez-Companioni was driving westbound on Interstate-20 near the Hiram Road in Kaufman County, where two other 18-wheelers and several cars were involved in the crash, a Texas Department of Safety spokesperson said in an email to KERA News.
The semi struck a truck carrying five people, which was pushed into two other semitrucks, according to DPS. Four of those passengers died at the scene, and two others were transported to a Dallas hospital by helicopter in critical condition.
One of the hit 18 wheelers also jack-knifed from the impact and struck three other cars, DPS said — totaling seven vehicles involved in the crash. A fifth driver in one of those cars was also pronounced dead at the scene. It’s unclear how many people were injured.
The Terrell Volunteer Fire Department told CBS News the crash was "horrific" and categorized it as a "mass casualty" event.
Saturday’s crash adds to Texas’ growing number of deadly semitruck crashes. According to data from TruckInfo, a trucking information site, the state currently leads the nation in the most fatal 18-wheeler crashes. In 2022, Texas had nearly 16,000 fatal semitruck crashes and nearly 6,000 crashes that caused injuries.
Fatal crashes involving large trucks have increased more than 64% between 2010 and 2023, according to data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Driver fatigue makes up for more than half of those crashes.
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