Truck Driver Allegedly Fell Asleep on Texas Highway, Causing ‘Mass Casualty’ Crash

A semi-truck driver has been arrested and charged in connection with the deaths of five people and injuring several others in what Texas officials called a “horrific” crash along Interstate 20 on Saturday.

Alexis Osmani Gonzalez-Companioni was charged with five counts of manslaughter and an additional count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon related to the crash, PEOPLE confirmed. The 27-year-old is currently in custody at the Kaufman County Jail, records show.

Gonzalez-Companioni reportedly told police he fell asleep at the wheel before crashing into the back of a pickup truck carrying five people at around 2:40 p.m. local time, according to KLTV, CBS News Texas and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. 

The outlets reported that the semi-truck then barreled forward into two other 18-wheelers and three other passenger vehicles, causing what the Terrell Volunteer Fire Department described as a “mass casualty” event, according to CBS.

Four of the five people in the pickup truck were pronounced dead at the scene, according to the outlet, while the fifth person was air-lifted to a local hospital in critical condition. The fifth person pronounced dead at the scene was inside a Jeep Compass, which was struck by one of the semi-trucks Gonzalez-Companioni had crashed into and caused to jack-knife.

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Citing information from a Texas Department of Public Safety officer, KLTV reported that traffic had slowed down in front of Gonzalez-Companioni and that he failed to see cars brake in front of him because he had dozed off.

Corinne Mulcahy, who lives at a nearby RV resort, told WFAA that she witnessed the crash, saying that as traffic slowed down along the highway, the semi-truck driven by Gonzalez-Companioni had “come out of nowhere” before slamming into the other vehicles.

“That bang was just incredible,” the witness said.