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 四虎影院.
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 鈥� totaling seven vehicles involved in the crash. A fifth driver in one of those cars was also pronounced dead at the scene. It鈥檚 unclear how many people were injured.
the crash was "horrific" and categorized it as a "mass casualty" event.
Saturday鈥檚 crash adds to Texas鈥� growing number of deadly semitruck crashes. , 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 Driver fatigue makes up for more than half of those crashes.
Got a tip? Email Penelope Rivera at privera@kera.org.
四虎影院 is made possible through the generosity of our members. If you find this reporting valuable, consider . Thank you.
