9 die in Texas crash involving U. of Southwest golf teams

By CEDAR ATTANASIO, JILL BLEED and ANITA SNOW
Associated Press

HOBBS, N.M. (AP) — A University of the Southwest official says the campus is mourning the loss of six students on the golf teams and a coach and is asking for people to keep the school and the families of the deceased in their thoughts. 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 carrying the golf teams. The college 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.