4 killed as high-speed chase ends in deadly West Texas crash

SANDERSON, Texas (AP) — Four people were killed when a high-speed chase ended in a fiery head-on collision on a remote West Texas highway, officials said Monday.

The episode began at dusk Friday on U.S. 90 just east of Sanderson, about 230 miles (370.15 kilometers) west of San Antonio, according to a Monday statement by the Texas Department of Public Safety.

A DPS trooper was making a stop on a crew-cabbed pickup when the truck sped away. A chase ensued through Sanderson and north on U.S. 285, then ended when the truck veered into the oncoming lane of the two-lane highway and slammed into an oncoming pickup. Both vehicles erupted in flames, as did a vehicle damaged by debris from the collision.

The unidentified driver and a rear-seat male passenger from Mexico in the fleeing truck were killed, along with both Del Rio, Texas, men in the oncoming truck, the DPS said. A front-seat passenger in the fleeing truck, a woman from Honduras, was airlifted to an Odessa hospital, where she was listed in serious condition. The occupant of the third vehicle was not injured, the DPS said.

The DPS statement did not indicate the reason for the traffic stop that initiated the chase.