Six people are dead and a seventh had life-threatening injuries after a speeding driver allegedly ran a red light and caused a crash with an SUV in Houston early Saturday, police said.
The crash between a Chrysler 300 and an Acura SUV happened at around 2 a.m., Houston Police Assistant Chief Megan Howard said at the scene.
The Chrysler, going southbound on Fannin Street, allegedly ran a red light as the SUV had the green light going eastbound on Pierce Street.
The Chrysler “appears to be going very fast, high velocity,” Howard said.
Four people were dead at the scene and two others died after being taken to a hospital, Howard said. Five males and one female were killed in all, she said.
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Two people were injured, one of whom has life-threatening injuries, Howard said.
The driver of the Chrysler who ran the red light is dead, she said. One of the males who was killed appears to be homeless. It was not clear from a news conference how he was involved.
Video from NBC affiliate KPRC of Houston showed the SUV with severe damage to its side.
Speeding is responsible for almost one-third of all traffic fatalities, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in July when it launched a campaign to slow drivers down.
There were 42,939 deaths in crashes in 2021 — the year in which speed-related deaths reached a 14-year high — and of those, 12,330 deaths in crashes involved speeding, it said.
