Infant, Child and 3 Adults Killed in 17-Car Crash on Texas Freeway, Multiple Other Children Injured

Five people have lost their lives in a multi-car crash in Austin, Texas.

On Thursday, March 13, Austin Travis County Medical Services revealed that they were responding to a crash that involved a semi-truck and multiple vehicles at 11:23 p.m.

“Vehicle Rescue at 13100 N Ih 35 Sb. #ATCEMS & @AustinFireInfo are on scene of a collision involving multiple vehicles and a semi-truck, with at least 7 patients involved, several who are pinned in their vehicles,” they wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter). “Expect #ATXTraffic delays in the area, more information to follow.”

They later confirmed in an update that five patients — three adults, one child and one infant were pronounced dead at the scene.

Austin Travis County Medical Services also stated that there were a total of 17 patients, with 11 being taken to the hospital with injuries that ranged from critical life-threatening to minor injuries.

Three out of the 11 were children who were taken to Dell Children’s Medical Center. One is described to have potentially life-threatening injuries, while the others have minor ones.

Officials told reporters that the crash involved an 18-wheeler that had a ruptured saddle tank.

While the vehicle didn’t catch fire, another car did, resulting in a good samaritan with a fire extinguisher putting it out before the Austin Fire Department arrived,” according to CBS Austin.

PEOPLE has contacted the Austin Fire Department for comment on the crash.

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“APD officers are responding to a collision involving multiple vehicles in the area of 3100 N IH 35 SB (between Parmer Ln & Howard Ln),” the Austin Police Department wrote on social media. “All lanes of N IH 35 SB are shut down and will be for several hours. Please avoid the area, expect delays, and find alternate routes. #ATXtraffic.”

Captain Christa Stedman with ATCEMS spoke to reporters about the collaboration with partners when dealing with the incident.

“This incident was incredibly chaotic and it was spread out over about a 10th of a mile. So without the collaboration of our partners, we would not have been able to manage the scene as well as we did,” Stedman said. “We were able to get all the predications off the scene within about 40 minutes. Considering how complex the scene was, that’s pretty impressive.”