HOUSTON, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Six people, including two kids aged 9 and 10, were killed and three others hospitalized after a head-on crash along a highway in the south central U.S. state of Texas, Tuesday evening, according to a news release from the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) on Wednesday.
The dead, aged from 9 to 64 years old, were all riding in one of the two cars involved in the crash, the DPS said, adding that the three hospitalized sustained critical injuries.
The collision happened at around 5:30 p.m. local time along U.S. Highway 67 in the Nemo area, about 70 miles southwest of Dallas.
Preliminary investigation showed that a Chevrolet Silverado truck was traveling south while a Honda Odyssey van carrying seven people was traveling north on the same road, where the posted speed limit is 70 mph, said a report from the Courier Journal, part of the USA Today network.
DPS investigators believe the truck entered the northbound lane in a no-passing zone and struck the van in a head-on collision. Only two people in the van were wearing their seatbelts.
The truck's driver and passenger, both critically injured, were both 17-year-old males of Glen Rose, Texas, according to DPS.
"It's a devastating scene and very emotional for all involved," the Johnson County Sheriff's Office shared in a Facebook post.
"Please say a prayer for the families of the deceased and injured," the office said.
The U.S. Highway 67 was shut down "in both directions for several hours" while the authorities examined the "devastating scene", according to the office.
