Four oilfield workers from Texas and the driver of tractor-trailer rig are dead following a fiery head-on crash on a New Mexico road in the heart of what has become the busiest oil and gas region in the United States, authorities said Friday.
The crash happened Thursday morning when the driver of a pickup truck carrying three passengers crossed the center line into eastbound traffic and collided with a tractor-trailer rig, police said.
Both vehicles caught fire after the crash. The four workers in the pickup truck and the semi driver were all declared dead at the scene.
It’s unclear what caused the pickup truck to cross lanes, but Officer Ray Wilson said Friday that alcohol does not appear to have been a factor.
The crash comes as local government officials and some state lawmakers have pushed for more funding to improve roads throughout New Mexico’s share of the Permian Basin given the significant increase in traffic as a result of the ongoing oil boom.
Mike Sommers, who leads the American Petroleum Institute, told The Associated Press earlier this year that part of the reason traffic remains a concern is that infrastructure — from roads to pipelines — hasn’t caught up with the demands of the boom.
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