One man has been arrested as authorities continue to investigate the cause of a crash that killed five people Thursday on Interstate 35 in Austin, Texas.
Authorities said 17 vehicles were involved, including a tractor-trailer hauling goods for Amazon, in the accident that happened around 11:30 p.m. in the southbound lanes of I-35.
Five people were pronounced dead on the scene, including a child and an infant. Eleven others were taken to hospitals.
Solomun Weldekeal Araya, 37, the Dallas-based driver of the tractor-trailer, was arrested Friday by the Austin Police Department and charged with five counts of intoxication manslaughter and two counts of intoxication assault.
Preliminary information shows the truck carrying the Amazon haul failed to slow for traffic that had backed up in a temporary work zone for an I-35 expansion project, National Transportation Safety Board investigators said.
“The truck that initiated the crash sequence was registered to a for-hire carrier, ZBN Transport LLC, out of Dallas, Texas,” Kenny Bragg, an NTSB investigator, said during a news conference on Sunday. “In the coming days, the team will continue to document this temporary work zone, conduct a detailed mechanical inspection of the striking truck and collect further information from witnesses. We will also be looking into the truck driver’s employment history as a commercial driver, his entire driving history to include crash history and traffic violations, as well as his medical history for factors that may have influenced his driving.”
Officials for ZBN Transport LLC did not return a message seeking comment from FreightWaves on Monday.
ZBN Transport told KXAN that Araya had been with their company for four months and passed background checks.
Amazon officials confirmed that ZBN Transport was contracting a load for the e-commerce company.
“This is a horrible tragedy, and our thoughts are with all those involved. We’re looking into this further and will cooperate with all investigations,” Amazon spokeswoman Maureen Lynch Vogel told the Austin American-Statesman.
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