Truck driver charged with intoxication manslaughter in 17-vehicle car crash in N. Austin

The driver of a tractor-trailer that was involved in a fatal crash late Thursday on Interstate 35 in North Austin has been arrested and booked into the Travis County Jail on five counts of intoxication manslaughter and two charges of intoxication assault, according to the Austin Police Department and jail records.

Solomun Weldekeal Araya, 37, had been detained amid the ongoing investigation into the multi-vehicle collision that occurred shortly after 11:30 p.m. on southbound I-35 near Parmer Lane. The crash killed five people, including an infant and a child, and injured at least a dozen others.

The main lanes, which were closed just after the crash, were reopened about 12 hours later, at about 1 p.m. Friday. Around the same time, a spokesperson for the National Transportation Safety Board confirmed to the American-Statesman that the federal agency had opened an investigation into the crash.

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First responders treated 17 patients from 17 different vehicles, including the semi-truck, according to Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services, which reported five dead at the scene: one infant, one child and three adults.

"This incident was incredibly chaotic and spread out over about a tenth of a mile," Austin-Travis County EMS spokesperson Capt. Christa Stedman said at a news conference held at 2 a.m. Friday.

Eleven other patients were taken to various hospitals, several with critical, life-threatening injuries. Another patient refused to be taken to the hospital. The names and ages of the victims have not been made public.

The Austin Police Department said in a statement Friday morning that it did not "have an expected time frame" for when it would release the victims' identities but that it typically takes take several days.

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"Due to the size of the incident and the many people involved, the release will likely be out sometime next week," the police statement said.

Stedman, the Austin-Travis County EMS spokesperson, said at Friday's early morning news conference that all critical patents were taken to hospitals within 40 minutes.

"Considering how complex this scene was, that is pretty impressive," she said.

Among the patients were two adults who were taken to St. David's Round Rock Medical Center with critical, life-threatening injuries; three adults who were taken to Dell Seton Medical Center, two with critical, life-threatening injuries and one with minor injuries; three children who were taken to Dell Children's Medical Center, one with potentially life-threatening injuries and two with minor injuries; and three adults who were taken to Seton Medical Center with minor injuries.

St. David’s Round Rock Medical Center told the American-Statesman on Friday morning that one of the two patients taken there was treated and released, and the other was in fair condition.

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Statesman staff writers Nicole Villalpando and Emiliano Gomez contributed to this report.

If you need helpAnyone affected by the crash who needs support can call APD Victim Services, where counselors are available to help. The office may be reached by phone at (512) 974-5037 or email at victim.services@austintexas.gov.

This is a developing story and will be updated with more information.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Truck driver charged with intoxication manslaughter in N. Austin crash

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