UPDATE: Irvin track coach killed in crash involving EPISD bus in Hudspeth County
A charter bus carrying El Paso Independent School District students returning from a track meet in Lubbock was involved in a deadly head-on crash Sunday morning.
Officials said two people died at the scene and at least 17 people were injured.
A spokesperson for the school district said the bus was carrying 25 student athletes and coaches from a track meet.
Troopers said a pickup truck was driving in the wrong direction and collided with the bus head-on.
Texas Department of Public Safety officials told ABC-7 the crash happened about midnight on Highway 62/180, near mile marker 94 in Hudspeth County. Troopers said a pickup truck was traveling in the wrong direction.
EPISD officials say the bus was carrying students and coaches from Jefferson, Austin, El Paso, Burges, Andress and Irvin High Schools and coaches from Chapin High School. The teams were returning from a UIL regional track meet.
Officials confirm those injured were taken to Del Sol Medical Center and University Medical Center with non-critical and non-life threatening injuries. Two people were killed, including Irvin High School social sciences teacher and track coach Arcadio Duran was killed.
Officials say Duran was a “dedicated member of the Irvin faculty and devoted coach.”
Superintendent Juan Cabrera says buses from Canutillo and Socorro were also traveling from Lubbock and stopped to remain with students during the ordeal. Cabrera says they “gave our students shelter and comfort. They remained with us until all of our students and staff were cared for. it is times such as these that remind us that we are all one family, one community-all focused on taking care of kids.”
This is the first time a head coach died while on school business since 1954. The last time a coach died was back in 1954 when Bowie head football coach Buryl Baty and athletic director Jerry Simmang were involved in a head on collision.
Both men were in the same car and died while driving back to El Paso from Pecos, Texas during the middle of the football season.
Extra counseling will be on hand for all campuses affected.
