El Paso Irvin High School track coach Arcadio Duran Jr. was among two people killed in a crash involving an El Paso Independent School District charter bus and a Chevrolet pickup truck late Saturday night.
According to the El Paso Times, Duran, 48, was killed when the pickup truck, which was traveling eastbound in the westbound lane, collided head-on with the bus. The driver of the pickup truck, 51-year-old Gary Lawson, was also pronounced dead at the scene.
The accident took place about 70 miles east of El Paso on U.S. 62/180 in Hudspeth County, Texas.
The bus was traveling back to El Paso from Lubbock after a regional track meet. The bus had students and coaches from El Paso Chapin, Andress, Irvin, Jefferson, Burges, and Austin on board.
In total, 17 people from the EPISD bus were taken to two different hospitals in the El Paso area with non-life-threatening injuries. Half were released Sunday while the rest are being held for observation.
Students from two other El Paso-area schools came upon the accident as they drove back from the meet. When they realized other members of the track community had been involved in the accident, they got out of their cars and allowed students and coaches involved in the crash to get into their cars to stay warm. They also offered clothes and blankets.
EPISD superintendent Juan Cabrera said, "It is times like these that we are all reminded that we are one family, all one community, all focused on taking care of kids."
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