A man was accused on Friday of homicide in poisoning after five people died and several injuries in a night shipwreck in Austin, Texas, which involved more than a dozen vehicles in interstate 35, authorities said.
The authorities said that the five people killed in the accident involving 17 vehicles on Thursday just before 11:30 pm, included three adults, a child and a baby. The first to respond said 11 people were taken to hospitals.
Solomun Weldekeal Araya, 37, was accused of five homicide positions in poisoning and two positions of intoxication assault after the accident, Austin police said on Friday. Police said he was in custody in Travis County prison. It was not clear immediately if he had a lawyer. The prison records did not list a lawyer for him.
The police have not detailed the circumstances that led to the accident. Police said in an email on Friday that they were still early in the investigation and that they had no more information available to release.
The lanes south of the I-35 closed after the accident, and remained closed until Friday before reopening at approximately 1 pm, the wreck left a stretch of the interstatal full of vehicles and broken rubble.
The collision was “very large and very complex,” said police officer Austin Zarling at a morning press conference.
Edgar Viera told Austin’s NBC Kxan affiliate that he was in a nearby store when he heard the accident and went to help those involved.
“We didn’t have the right tools to open the vehicles, so we only did what we could,” he said to the station. “It was difficult to see this.”
