PREMONT, Texas — The Texas Department of Public Safety is investigating a three-car crash that killed two men and injured another on U.S. Highway 281, about 6 1/2 miles south of Premont in Jim Wells County.
The accident occurred about 10:08 p.m. Thursday on a rain-slicked surface. Preliminary investigations indicate that a driver of a 2020 Ford Transit 350 utility van was traveling south on US 281. Another 2005 Chevy Silverado pickup truck with a driver and a passenger was traveling in the opposite director. For unknown reasons, the driver of the Chevy Silverado veered into the southbound lane of travel US, striking the Ford utility van head-on and causing that truck to overturn on its left side, the DPS said.
Both vehicles came to rest partially in the left southbound lane of the highway and the center median. A 2015 Kenworth truck tractor semi-trailer was traveling south on US 281 in the left lane that sideswiped the Silverado pickup truck before striking the Ford utility van. It forced the van to skid on its side further down the roadway, causing the driver of the Ford to be partially ejected. The semi-trailer veered off the roadway along U.S. 281 and into the brush.
Diego Perez, 24, of Premont, the driver of the Chevy Silverado was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash. Wuence Anzaldua, 51, of Mission, the driver of the Ford utility van, also was pronounced dead at the scene.
A male passenger of the Chevy Silverado was transported by ambulance to Spohn Hospital in Kingsville with serious injuries but in listed in stable condition. The driver of the Kenworth was not injured.
