9 dead in crash involving U. of the Southwest golf teams

By CEDAR ATTANASIO, JILL BLEED and ANITA SNOW
Associated Press

HOBBS, N.M. (AP) — Authorities are trying to determine why a pickup truck crossed into the opposite lane on a darkened, two-lane West Texas highway before colliding head-on with a van, killing nine people including six New Mexico college students and a golf coach. The University of the Southwest students, including one from Portugal and one from Mexico, and the coach were returning from a golf tournament. Also killed in Tuesday evening’s fiery crash were a 38-year-old man and a 13-year-old boy who were in the pickup truck. Two Canadian students were hospitalized in critical condition. The National Transportation Safety Board is sending an investigative team to the crash site in Texas’ Andrews County, about 30 miles east of the New Mexico state line.