Close X
Thursday, November 14, 2024
ADVT 
National

Ontario students 'stable' after deadly Texas crash

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 17 Mar, 2022 03:42 PM
  • Ontario students 'stable' after deadly Texas crash

Two students from Ontario are recovering in hospital following a deadly crash between a pickup truck and a van carrying a college golf team in Texas.

Nine people were killed in the fiery Tuesday night crash and the two Canadians — Dayton Price, 19, of Mississauga, Ont., and Hayden Underhill, 20, of Amherstview, Ont. — suffered critical injuries.

Officials said Thursday that both Ontario students have seen their conditions improve.

"They are both stable and recovering and every day making more and more progress," University of the Southwest Provost Ryan Tipton said.

"One of the students is eating chicken soup," he said, calling their recovery "a game of inches."

Tipton said university president Quint Thurman visited the students' parents at the hospital.

The Canadian students had been aboard the van on their way home from a golf tournament on Tuesday evening when officials said a pickup truck swerved into the opposite lane of traffic, crashing into the van head-on.

Both vehicles burst into flames on the darkened stretch of a two-lane highway, roughly 50 kilometres east of the New Mexico state line.

Six members of the New Mexico college's golf team and a coach died in the collision, as did a 38-year-old man and a 13-year-old boy from the pickup truck. The vice-chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board said the boy was behind the wheel of the truck at the time.

Bruce Landsberg said that although it was unclear how fast the two vehicles were traveling, “this was clearly a high-speed collision."

The surviving students' families have travelled to be with them.

A statement from Underhill's family issued Thursday afternoon said he is "continuing to make progress."

"We would also like to pass on our condolences to family of Coach James and to all the members of the Mustangs family that were lost in this tragic incident," Underhill's parents, Ken and Wendy Underhill, said in the written statement.

"We also are thinking of Dayton and the Price family as he begins his own recovery."

The Texas Department of Public Safety identified the deceased as: Golf coach Tyler James, 26, of Hobbs, N.M.; and players Mauricio Sanchez, 19, of Mexico; Travis Garcia, 19, of Pleasanton, Texas; Jackson Zinn, 22, of Westminster, Colo.; Karisa Raines, 21, of Fort Stockton, Texas; Laci Stone, 18, of Nocona, Texas; and Tiago Sousa, 18, of Portugal.

Also killed were Henrich Siemens, 38, of Seminole County, Texas, and an unidentified 13-year-old boy who were in the 2007 Dodge 2500 pickup.

MORE National ARTICLES

One killed in North Vancouver shooting: RCMP

One killed in North Vancouver shooting: RCMP
Mounties say the shooting took place Friday afternoon outside the Real Canadian Superstore on Seymour Boulevard, just north of the entrance to the Iron Workers Memorial Bridge.

One killed in North Vancouver shooting: RCMP

Pandemic anniversary reminder to be vigilant

Pandemic anniversary reminder to be vigilant
This time, the deputy chief public health officer and his chief, Dr. Theresa Tam, were there to inform Canadians of the first case of the novel coronavirus in Canada.

Pandemic anniversary reminder to be vigilant

Conservative leadership race: who's in, who's out

Conservative leadership race: who's in, who's out
With Sept. 10 picked as the date for when the Conservative Party of Canada will have a new leader, time is ticking for prospective candidates and their teams to get into place. Those running have until April 19 to throw their hat into the ring and until June 3 to sell memberships.

Conservative leadership race: who's in, who's out

Businesses hurt by convoy can apply for $10K: feds

Businesses hurt by convoy can apply for $10K: feds
Fortier says small businesses have shown incredible resilience throughout the pandemic, but especially during the three weeks that anti-vaccine mandate protesters occupied the city's core.

Businesses hurt by convoy can apply for $10K: feds

Canada, India to relaunch CEPA trade talks: Ng

Canada, India to relaunch CEPA trade talks: Ng
Following meetings in New Delhi with her Indian counterpart, Shri Piyush Goyal, Ng says the two countries will pursue an "early progress" agreement as an initial step.

Canada, India to relaunch CEPA trade talks: Ng

Canada adds 337,000 jobs in February: StatCan

Canada adds 337,000 jobs in February: StatCan
A gain of 337,000 jobs in February more than offset the loss of 200,000 jobs in January and dropped the unemployment rate to 5.5 per cent, falling below the 5.7 per cent level where it was at in February 2020.    

Canada adds 337,000 jobs in February: StatCan