In addition to the 13-year-old, whose name was not released, a 38-year-old man, Henrich Siemens, was in the Dodge pickup. Both were killed, as well as the coach, Tyler James, and six golfers in the passenger van.
Eli Hartman/Odessa American via APA damaged pickup truck sits on the side of the road at the scene of a fatal car wreck earl..The players who died were identified as Maurico Sanchez, 19, of Mexico; Travis Garcia, 19, of Pleasanton, Texas; Jackson Zinn, 22, of Westminster, Colorado; Karissa Raines, 21, of Fort Stockton, Texas; Laci Stone, 18, of Nocona, Texas; and Tiago Sousa, 18, of Portugal.
The two passengers in the team van who survived the wreck, Dayton Price,19, of Mississauga, Ontario, and Hayden Underhill, 20, of Amherstview, Ontario, remain hospitalized as of Thursday in Lubbock, Texas, according to the University of the Southwest.
Police were able to determine the teen was in the driver’s seat based on the size of the remains inside the truck, according to Landsberg.
Landsberg said his team is going through all of the evidence at the scene, including vehicle recorders, but it does appear that the incident was “very clearly a high speed, head-on collision.” Both vehicles burst into flames after the crash.
“We have literally thousands of pictures that were taken by the various first responders, and there is no question about the force of impact,” he said.
Landsberg added that “quite a number of the bus passengers were not wearing seatbelts,” during the incident.
Eli Hartman/Odessa American via APUniversity of the Southwest golfers from left, Halie Cruz, Phillip Lopez, and Jonny Flores…Read MoreThe NTSB will release a preliminary report on its investigation in two to three weeks, Landsberg said.
Ryan Tipton, the provost of the University of the Southwest, provided an update on the two injured students during a news conference Thursday and said the school would be supporting them during their long journey.
“Every day is a game of inches, and every hour is one step closer to another day,” he said.
Tipton said most students are off campus for spring break but the school is planning to hold a memorial service in honor of those who died when classes resume.
“We are a family of Mustangs,” he said, referring to the school’s mascot. “We’ve run as one, we run together, and when one of us is hurting, all of us are hurting.”
