Who Are The Golf Players From New Mexico University Who Died In An Accident?

Six student golfers and their coach were killed, along with two others, when a van carrying members of a New Mexico university’s golf teams and a pickup collided Tuesday night in West Texa.

The coach, identified as Tyler James, was in his first season as the head coach of the men’s and women’s golf programs.

Two more students were critically injured in the crash involving members of the University of the Southwest’s men’s and women’s golf teams, according to the school.

Texas Department of Public Safety Sgt. Steven Blanco said the collision happened around 8:17 p.m. on a two-lane road about nine miles from the city of Andrews, northwest of Midland Odessa.

“For unknown reasons, the Dodge pickup drove into the northbound lane and struck the Ford passenger van head-on. Both vehicles caught fire and burned,” the state agency said Wednesday in a statement.

Both vehicles burned, and the two people in the pickup were killed.

The university-owned Ford passenger van was transporting the teams from a golf tournament in West Texas, Blanco said at the scene.

The van was carrying nine people, including the teams’ coach, according to a university spokesperson. Seven people on the van, including the coach and the six students, were killed.

Two students were critically injured in the crash and flown to University Medical Center in Lubbock.

“We are still learning the details about the accident but we are devastated and deeply saddened to learn about the loss of our students’ lives and their coach,” Southwest President Quint Thurman said in a statement.

The crash is being investigated by the Texas Highway Patrol, with assistance from the National Transportation Safety Board.

The University of Southwest is a private Christian school located in Hobbs, N.M.