Rushil Barri Indian emigre and six family members killed in wrong way crash along Texas highway US 67 in Johnson County after vehicle he was driving was hit head on by a pickup truck driven by 17 year old teen driver. The crash remains under investigation.
A total of six people from the same family were killed when a 17-year-old driving a pickup truck on the wrong side of a Texas highway plowed into their their minivan.
Rushil Barri, 28, was driving his family home to Irving in a Honda Odyssey following a trip to the Fossil Rim Wildlife Center when the fatal ‘wrong way crash‘ took place, Tuesday afternoon.
As they joined the US 67 highway along Johnson County, a Chevrolet pickup truck hit Barri’s minivan head-on. The Texas Department of Public Service said the collision occurred after the pickup truck entered Barri’s lane in a ‘no passing’ area, hitting his vehicle head-on.
6 dead from same family, 3 injured
Barri, a recent emigre from India as well as five of his six passengers, were all killed in the collision, NBC News reported.
Victims of the crash include his cousin, his cousin’s wife, two young children, and in-laws, all from Alpharetta, Georgia, WFAA reported.
In addition to Barri, the five dead passengers were named as Naveena Potabathula, 36, Nageswararao Ponnada, 64, Sitamahalakshmi Ponnada, 60, and children, Krithik Potabathula, 10, and Nishidha Potabathula, 9.
A seventh person in the minivan, a 43-year-old man, suffered critical injuries.
The 17-year-old driver of the pickup truck was also taken to the hospital with critical injuries, as was his passenger, also 17.
The injured victims were airlifted to nearby John Peter Smith Hospital and Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital, where they received urgent care.
Barri’s roommate, Ayyappala Bandaru, has since expressed his shock at the tragedy, saying he was alerted at 4:01 p.m. Tuesday that Barri’s iPhone had registered the crash.
Charges pending?
‘We were in shock like what just happened,’ he told NBC News. ‘We tried reaching everyone in the car and no one is picking up.’
Barri, who moved to the US from India in August 2020, was described by Bandaru as ambitious.
‘We were like brothers,’ Bandaru said. ‘He’s actually like my brother over here. He had very big dreams. He always used to think about tomorrow. He used to be like ‘Man, we need to rule this world.’
‘We came here with a lot of struggles,’ he added.
Sgt. William Lockridge of the Texas Department of Public Safety said it was unclear why the teen was driving the wrong way on the highway.
‘For an unknown reason at this time, the Chevrolet pickup truck traveled into the northbound lane and struck the Honda Odyssey head-on,’ he said.
The 17 year old driver’s name has not been released, pending any future charges contingent on investigators determining the cause of the wrong way crash.
Also not clear was whether the teen driver was driving under the influence.
Barri and his family’s remains will be sent to India, where funeral services will be held.
