Thursday evening update:
Highway 105 east of Navasota was closed for five hours Thursday morning following a three vehicle crash that killed three people and injured six.
DPS identified those who died as 18 year old Keaton Anthony Bussell of Montgomery, 55 year old Richard Michael Thomas of College Station, and 36 year old Jessie Conzalo of Bryan.
The crash took place on the Grassy Creek bridge on 105 near the intersection of FM 362.
Troopers were told a westbound pickup driven by Bussell crossed the center line and struck an eastbound van driven by Thomas. Gallegos was a passenger in the van.
A second passenger in the van was taken to a Houston hospital and was last listed in critical condition.
Five other passengers were taken to hospitals in College Station and Bryan.
The driver of a second pickup that struck the van was not injured.
Names of the injured have not been released.
Original news release from DPS:
BRYAN – Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) State Troopers are investigating an early morning three vehicle crash in Grimes County resulting in three deaths and six injured passengers, one critically, on State Highway 105 at Grassy Creek Bridge, approximately four miles east of Navasota.
The preliminary investigation indicates at approximately 6:30 a.m., a westbound 2001 Dodge pick-up crossed into the eastbound lane, in a no passing zone, and struck head-on a 2013 Chevrolet van. A 2009 Chevrolet pick-up, also travelling east, struck the Chevrolet van in the eastbound lane. The Dodge pick-up and Chevrolet van sustained extensive front end damage. The Dodge pick-up caught fire after the collision and was extinguished by the Navasota Fire Department. The Chevrolet pick-up sustained minor damage to the left front.
The driver of the Dodge and the driver of the Chevrolet van, along with a passenger in the van, were pronounced deceased at the scene by Judge Underwood. A passenger in the van was air lifted to Memorial Herman Hospital in Houston and is in critical condition. The remaining five passengers were injured; three were transported by ambulance to St Joseph Hospital in Bryan and two were transported by ambulance to Scott & White Hospital in College Station. The driver of the Chevrolet pick-up was uninjured.
Traffic was diverted for several hours from State Highway 105 to FM-2988 and onto FM-362 while the traffic crash was being investigated and was reopened shortly before 11.30 a.m.
There is no additional information available for release at this time.