Authorities in Austin say that a man was involved in a fatal crash on Interstate 35 late Thursday night. The man has been arrested and put into the Travis County Jail on five counts of intoxication manslaughter and two counts of intoxication assault.
Solomun Weldekeal Araya, 37, had been arrested because of an ongoing probe into a crash that happened on southbound I-35 near Parmer Lane just after 11:30 p.m. Five people died in the multi-car accident, including a baby and a child. At least a dozen others were hurt. On Friday morning, all lanes of the highway were closed. They came back open around 1 p.m. The National Transportation Safety Board told the American-Statesman that the crash was being looked into by a federal body.
Austin-Travis County EMS said that they treated 17 people in 17 cars, including a semi-truck. Five people were found dead at the scene: an infant, a child, and three adults.
Eleven more patients were taken by first responders, and some of them had serious injuries that could kill them. Another refused to be driven. No one knows what their names are or how old they are.
Here are some pictures and a movie of what happened after the terrible crash.
