Press release from Texas Department of Public Safety

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01-22-25

DEL RIO – The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) is investigating a four-vehicle crash involving multiple fatalities that occurred on US 57 in Zavala County.

  On Jan. 21, 2025, at approximately 12:45 a.m., DPS responded to a four-vehicle crash at mile marker 420 east of La Pryor on the Nueces River Bridge. Preliminary information shows a white 2006 Ford passenger van towing a trailer was traveling east on US 57 approaching the bridge. A second 2006 white Ford passenger van towing a trailer was traveling behind the van and failed to control its speed striking the Ford van from behind.

  A white 2012 Ford F-150 pickup truck stopped on the bridge because of the crash. Multiple passengers from the vans then attempted to signal a white 2019 Freightliner truck tractor semi-trailer that was approaching from the west to stop due to the icy road conditions on the bridge. The driver of the truck tractor attempted to avoid the crash by traveling in the middle of the road but lost control and struck all three vehicles.

  Three occupants from the Ford Van, Pedro Urquiza, 63, Estanislao Jaimes, 60, and Diana Lopez, 43, from Dallas, Texas, and the driver of the Ford pickup, Jose Artemio Rodriguez, 48, of Fort Worth, Texas, were found at the bottom of the bridge and were pronounced deceased. The driver of the Ford van, Maria Pineda, 60, of Lawrenceville, Georgia, was pronounced deceased as a result of the crash from the Freightliner.

  Seven passengers were transported to Uvalde Memorial Hospital for treatment. The driver of the Freightliner refused medical treatment. The investigation is ongoing.