Alpharetta residents killed in head-on crash in Texas

CLEBURNE, Texas (AP) — Six people are dead and three others critically injured after a head-on crash on a north Texas highway.

The Johnson County Sheriff's Office says the crash happened late Tuesday near the town of Cleburne, about 33 miles south of Fort Worth. Investigators believe a southbound pickup truck driven by a 17-year-old entered the northbound lanes in a no-passing zone and slammed into a minivan. Six people in the minivan were killed, including the 28-year-old driver from Irving, Texas.

The other five people killed ranged in age from 9 to 64 and were from Alpharetta, Georgia. Two 17-year-olds in the pickup and a 26-year-old man in the minivan were taken to the hospital in critical condition. 

The crash killed the driver of the minivan and five passengers.

The Texas Department of Public Safety identified the deceased driver as Rushil Barri, a 28-year-old man from Irving, Texas. Friends and relatives told local news outlets that Barri was driving his cousin and others home from a visit to a wildlife park.

“It’s so hard to take. He’s my half. He’s my half,” Rakesh Barri, Rushil Barri’s brother, told WFAA-TV.

The sole survivor in the minivan was 43-year-old Lokesh Potabathula, the cousin. Other fatalities included Pothabula's wife, 36-year-old Naveena Potabathula; the couple's children, 9-year-old Nishidha Potabathula and 10-year-old Krithik Potabathula; and Naveena Potabathula's parents, 60-year-old Sitamahalakshmi Ponnada and 64-year-old Nageswararao Ponnada.

Members of the Telugu Association of North America said all the adults emigrated to the United States from India.

Lokesha Potabuthula and two 17-year-olds in the pickup truck — Luke Resecker and Preston Glass of Glen Rose — were taken to Fort Worth hospitals in critical condition.

It's unclear if criminal charges will be filed.

“It's a devastating scene and very emotional for all involved,” the sheriff's office said in a post on its Facebook page.