AUSTIN, Texas – A man was arrested after five people, including an infant, were killed in a 17-vehicle crash on Interstate 35 in north Austin on Thursday night.
Solomun Weldekeal Araya, 37, was charged with five counts of intoxication manslaughter and two counts of intoxication assault, according to the Austin Police Department. He is in custody at the Travis County Jail.
The crash happened around 11:20 p.m. in the 12900 block of southbound Interstate 35 near Parmer Lane.
Cpt. Krista Stedman, the public information officer for Austin Travis County EMS, told KVUE that authorities arrived at the scene to find a collision involving multiple vehicles and a semitruck.
Stedman said multiple people were pinned in their vehicles.
One infant, one child and three adults were pronounced dead, Stedman said.
She said 11 people were hospitalized, including three children. One child suffered potentially life-threatening injuries, she said.
“This incident was incredibly chaotic and it was spread out over about a tenth of a mile,” she said.
Officer Austin Zarling, a public information officer with the Austin Police Department, said the cause of the crash is under investigation.
The vehicular homicide unit is investigating the crash, he said.
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