A man has been charged after five people were killed and several were injured in a late-night wreck involving more than a dozen vehicles on a major interstate highway in Austin, Texas, authorities said.
The five people killed in the crash involving 17 vehicles on Interstate 35 southbound near Parmer Lane just before 11.30pm on Thursday included three adults, a child and an infant.
The crash — which included semi-trucks — left several people “pinned in their vehicles,” according to Austin-Travis County EMS. First responders said that 11 people were also taken to hospitals.
On Friday, Solomun Weldekeal Araya, 37, was charged with five counts of intoxication manslaughter and two counts of intoxication assault after the crash, Austin police said.
Police said he was in custody in Travis County Jail.
It was not immediately clear if he had an attorney as jail records did not list an attorney for him.
Police have not detailed the circumstances that led to the wreck. Investigators said in an email on Friday that they were still early in the investigation and had no further information available to release.
The southbound lanes of I-35 were closed following the crash, and they remained closed into Friday causing traffic chaos. The wreck had left a stretch of the interstate littered with mangled vehicles and debris.
“All lanes of N IH 35 SB are shut down and will be for several hours. Please avoid the area, expect delays, and find alternate routes,” the Austin Police Department wrote on X.
The collision was “very large and very complex,” Police Officer Austin Zarling said at an early-morning news conference after the crash.
Edgar Viera told KXAN television station that he was at a nearby store when he heard the crash and went to try to help those involved.
“We didn’t have the proper tools to open the vehicles, so we just did what we could,” Viera told the station. “It was hard to see this.”
