Three dead in IH-35 head-on crash

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The Texas Highway Patrol is continuing its investigation this week into a collision between two vehicles on IH-35 near Encinal in the early morning hours of Saturday, March 4, when three travelers lost their lives.

Emergency responders arrived at the scene at Milemarker 38 shortly after 5:45 a.m. Saturday to find that two sedans had been involved in a high-speed collision that appeared to have resulted from one vehicle crossing the center median into oncoming traffic.

Highway Patrol troopers and deputies of the La Salle County Sheriff’s Office have confirmed that three people were killed in the collision and were pronounced dead at the scene. The Department of Public Safety has yet to confirm identities of the victims and had not completed death notifications as of Tuesday morning this week.

Investigators have questioned other motorists who saw the accident, according to the DPS this week.

Witness reports from the scene indicated that a white 2013 Ford Taurus had been traveling south on the interstate towards Laredo when it veered out of its lane and crossed the grassy median in which no crash safety barrier had been installed, the Highway Patrol reported.

Once the Ford had crossed the median, it entered the northbound lanes of traffic and collided head-on with a white 2023 Kia K5, the Highway Patrol reported.

The sheriff’s office indicated this week that the collision caused a fire on the interstate.

Investigators reported Tuesday morning that the reasons for the Ford crossing the center median remain unknown.

Traffic on IH-35 was halted during the initial crash response and diverted onto access roads for at least seven hours during the investigation and clean-up, according to the sheriff’s office.