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