Texas trooper: 13 dead, 2 injured in church van-truck crash

UVALDE, Texas (AP) — A small shuttle bus carrying Texas church members home from a retreat collided head-on with a pickup truck, killing 13 people and injuring two others Wednesday on a two-lane highway in southwestern Texas, officials said.

All of the victims who died attended First Baptist Church of New Braunfels, Texas, including the driver.

A total of 14 seniors were on the bus, and the driver was the only person in the pickup when the vehicles collided at about 12:30 p.m. on U.S. 83 outside Garner State Park in northern Uvalde County, according to Texas Department of Public Safety Sgt. Conrad Hein and a church statement. The area is about 75 miles west of San Antonio.

Hein said two other bus passengers and the pickup driver were injured and hospitalized. One of those passengers died at a San Antonio hospital late Wednesday, DPS Lt. Johnny Hernandez said. The lone surviving passenger was in critical condition, while the driver of the pickup was in stable condition, he said.

It was not immediately clear what caused the collision about 120 miles from the church, where the members were headed.

The National Transportation Safety Board has sent investigators to the scene.

Photos and video of the crash’s aftermath showed heavy damage to the front drivers’ sides of both vehicles. The back of the bus was up on a guardrail, with glass and debris scattered onto the grass below.

Church officials said in a statement on the First Baptist website that the members were returning from a three-day retreat in Leakey, about 9 miles north of where the crash happened.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and his wife, Cecilia, offered their condolences in the hours after the crash.

“We are saddened by the loss of life and our hearts go out to all those affected,” their statement said.