“I saw this truck just come out of nowhere,” Corinne Mulcahy said. “I don’t know how many miles an hour he was going when he hit that pick-up truck.”
KAUFMAN COUNTY, Texas — New video recorded just seconds after a deadly 7-vehicle pile-up about 40 minutes east of Dallas involving an 18-wheeler shows the massive destruction of the crash.
Corinne Mulcahy said she was sitting in the window when she noticed traffic slowing down on the interstate.
“That loud, and that bang was just incredible,” said Mulcahy, a witness who lives at an RV resort just off I-20 in Terrell.
“I saw the first truck’s brake lights, the F150, and then I saw this truck just come out of nowhere,” Mulcahy added. “I don’t know how many miles an hour he was going when he hit that pick-up truck.”
Paramedics airlifted one person from the pickup to the hospital. Investigators say five others died at the scene.
According to the Texas Rangers, 27-year-old semi driver Alexis Osmani Gonzalez-Companioni fell asleep behind the wheel. He was arrested at the scene and is charged with five counts of manslaughter and one count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. WFAA is working to confirm his employer.
“The trooper had him beside the fire truck, and he was talking to him,” Mulcahy recalled.
“What if that was me out there with my kids?” said Buddha, the RV park’s property manager, who was watching children at the pool when the crash happened. “All of a sudden, we heard a big crash, a big boom.”
Buddha followed her first instinct and ran to the crash scene. She immediately learned that a couple of doctors were on scene. The crash brought traffic to a complete standstill.
The RV Resort Park has its company telephone number displayed on the fence next to the frontage road that runs alongside the interstate. As drivers waited in the heat, the calls started coming in.
“’We’re near you. We’re walking. Can we come and use your restroom? It’s hot.'” Buddha recalled drivers stuck in traffic saying. “So me and my other coworker just started passing out water, Gatorades that we had.”
Buddha is praying for all of the families impacted by the crash—and so is Corinne.
“My heart goes out to you,” Mulcahy said.
“I did say a prayer when I was out there,” added Buddha, as both wait to learn the names of the victims.