8 People Die in Head-On Collision

A pickup truck blew a tire and smashed head on into another pickup crowded with women and children returning from a prayer meeting, killing all eight people in the two vehicles, authorities said.

Thelma Rodriguez Vasquez and six of her relatives were heading home from the meeting Thursday night on a remote stretch of highway.

Hugo Rafael Gutierrez may have been speeding when the tire blew, sending his truck into the path of the other vehicle, said Tom Vinger, spokesman for the Texas Department of Public Safety.

Vasquez’s extended-cab truck rolled and ignited, trapping four women and two girls, authorities said. Vasquez was ejected, but she burned along with the others. Gutierrez, 41, of Laredo, was thrown from his pickup and died.