Girl, 9, Among 3 Generations of a Family Killed in Texas Car Crash Just Days After Christmas
The family members were returning from a trip to the Fossil Rim Wildlife Center when the incident took place
NBC/Youtube
Six family members were killed in Texas car crashA car crash in Texas left six members of the same family dead the day after Christmas.
According to The Dallas Morning News and CBS News, among the deceased are siblings 9-year-old Nishidha Potabathula and 10-year-old Krithik Potabathula.
The children were passengers in a Honda Odyssey minivan that was hit head-on by a pickup truck driving on the wrong side of U.S. Highway 67.
The minivan was driven by 28-year-old Rushil Barri, who also died as a result of the crash, along with the children's mother, Naveena Pothabathula, 36, and grandparents, Nageswararao Ponnada, 64, and Sitamahalakshmi Ponnada, 60. The children's father, Lokesh Potabathula, 43, was critically injured and taken to a hospital.
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Local NBC affiliate KXAS-TV reported that the family was returning from a trip to the Fossil Rim Wildlife Center when the incident took place. According to ABC affiliate WFAA, Barri lived in Texas and was being visited by his family members from Georgia. Nageswararao and Sitamahalakshmi had been visiting from India.
"At 4:01, she got a message saying Rushil's iPhone has met with a crash. We were in shock like what just happened. We tried reaching everyone in the car, and no one is picking up," Barri's roommate Ayyappala Bandaru told KXAS-TV.
In a Facebook update, the Johnson County Sheriff's Office said the truck "entered the northbound lane in a no-passing area and struck the Odyssey head-on, resulting in heavy damage to both vehicles." PEOPLE has reached out to the Texas Department of Public Safety, but did not immediately hear back.
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The truck's driver, Luke Resecker, along with its passenger, Preston Glass, both 17, were flown to a hospital in Forth Worth in "critical condition," according to The Dallas Morning News.
The family's loved ones have set up a GoFundMe to help offset the costs of medical expenses and funeral costs.
"We are absolutely heartbroken by this unfortunate incident and having to ship the mortal remains back to India and plan a funeral service as well as taking care of Lokesh's medical expenses, which are extremely overwhelming, and the burden of medical bills, funeral expenses weighs heavily on Lokesh's family. We want to ease their financial strain during this difficult time," a campaign description reads.
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The campaign currently has over 4,000 donations and has raised over $200,000.
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