Late at night on Thursday, March 13, on I-35 in Austin, Texas, southbound traffic queued up near mile marker 245 as the highway went from three lanes to one to accommodate road work. A small fleet's tractor, pulling an Amazon trailer load, then "failed to slow down" and hit the line of cars, killing 5 and injuring 17 others, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.
A police-released picture of Solomun Weldekeal Araya, the driver who caused a pileup on I-35 in Austin, Texas, that killed five and injured 17.Austin Police Department
In a press conference in the hours after the crash, Austin Police Captain Christa Steadman, a public information officer, described the accident scene authorities responded to as "incredibly chaotic" and "spread out over a 1/10th of a mile."
"All the critical patients were off the scene within 40 minutes,“ which was "pretty impressive," she said. Multiple units responded to the scene, including the fire department, EMS, and an impaired driving investigation unit, police said. The pileup caused the rupture of a saddle tank of diesel on a truck, but otherwise no hazardous materials were spilled.
Maureen Lynch Vogel, a spokesperson for Amazon, said of the crash: "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."
National Transportation Safety Board Vice Chairman Alvin Brown echoed that sentiment in a press conference on March 16.
"We offer our condolences to those families who lost loved ones, those injured, and the community impacted," said Brown. "Every life is important, every family matters. This is a difficult situation and my heart goes out to everyone."
Brown said NTSB is "working closely with Austin Police Department supporting victims and family members" to find out "not just what happened, but how it happened and to recommend changes to prevent it from happening again." NTSB staff will be on-scene for seven to 10 days in hopes to be able to issue a preliminary report publicly within 30 days. Final reports are typically issued 12-24 months after an accident.
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NTSB Investigator Kenny Bragg said the investigation will include "driver monitoring, compliance practices and conditioning of the driver at the time of the crash."
NTSB will "conduct a detailed mechanical inspection of the striking truck and collect further information from witnesses," said Bragg. NTSB will also look into truck driver Araya's "entire driving history to include crash history and traffic violations, as well as his medical history for factors that may have influenced his driving."
On Friday March 14, Austin Police arrested Araya on five counts of Intoxication Manslaughter and two counts of Intoxication Assault.
A video purportedly taken at the scene of the crash shows the wrecked ZBN truck with the Amazon load and a person who looks like Araya attempting to describe the crash. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration in 2016 relaxed guidance around the English speaking requirement for commercial drivers. Overdrive contacted Austin Police Department and the NTSB with questions but did not hear back. The person who answered ZBN Transport's FMCSA-listed phone number said he was "not sure" if Araya was a citizen of the U.S., but that Araya did indeed drive for ZBN.
[Related: Do drivers need to learn English?]
