6 dead, including 4 kids, after SUV and box truck crash on Christmas, Texas cops say

An SUV crashed into a box truck and burst into flames, killing six people on Christmas Day, Texas officials said.

The fiery crash happened at about 12:30 a.m. on Dec. 25, along a stretch of U.S. Highway 87 in the Texas panhandle, Hartley Fire & EMS said in a news release.

The scene was 7 miles east from Hartley, which is a roughly 70-mile drive northwest from Amarillo.

“Upon arrival units found the roadway blocked by what appeared to be a small SUV that had hit a Box type delivery truck head on,” first responders said. All six occupants of the SUV were killed, and the driver of the box truck was taken to a hospital for treatment.

The cause of the crash is under investigation by the state Department of Public Safety.

According to investigators, 31-year-old Jaredi Mpaweingabire was driving a 2018 Honda Pilot with a trailer attached when the SUV went into the opposite lane and slammed into a box truck.

The trailer broke off from the Honda on impact and the SUV caught fire, DPS said. Mpaweingabire died along with five passengers, including Mapendo Olga, 28, and four children, ages 6, 5, 4 and 2, according to investigators.

All six were residents of Cactus, a town of about 3,000 people that’s roughly 60 miles north from Amarillo.

Conditions were wet and foggy at the time of the crash, according to investigators .

This story was originally published December 26, 2024 at 10:27 AM with the headline "6 dead, including 4 kids, after SUV and box truck crash on Christmas, Texas cops say."