Multiple dead in crash involving U. of Southwest golf teams

ANDREWS, Texas (AP) — A vehicle carrying members of the University of the Southwest’s golf teams collided head-on with a pickup truck in West Texas, killing multiple people, authorities said.

The vehicles collided Tuesday night in Andrews County and Sgt. Steven Blanco of the Texas Department of Public Safety told KWES-TV there were fatalities in both vehicles, but the number of dead wasn’t immediately released.

“It’s a very tragic scene,” Blanco said. “It’s very, very tragic.”

The bus or van was transporting members of the men’s and women’s golf teams from a golf tournament, Blanco said, and the other vehicle involved was a Ford F-150.

The teams had been scheduled to play in a tournament Tuesday at Midland College, about 315 miles (505 kilometers) west of Dallas.

The University of the Southwest is a private, Christian college located in Hobbs, New Mexico, near the state’s border with Texas.

The university said on Twitter that it was working to notify family members of those involved in the crash, and counseling and religious services would be available on campus.

The crash was under investigation, Blanco said, and details about the number of people in each vehicle weren’t immediately released. The roadway where the crash occurred was closed early Wednesday.

The crash happened in the same area — but not the same roadway — where three people were killed in November when a pickup truck crashed into a school bus carrying members of the Andrews High School band.

The high school’s band director, the school bus driver and the driver of the pickup truck all died in that crash.