On Friday afternoon, the driver of a cement truck lost control of her vehicle and crashed through an overpass on Beltway 8 East in Houston, Texas. The truck landed on a Ford Expedition that was driving through an intersection on Woodforest Boulevard. Inside the crushed vehicle were a twin boy and girl and their mother and grandmother. The 22-month-old boy was pronounced dead at the scene after the horrific accident.
ABC13’s KTRK-TV Houston shared surveillance footage of the accident from inside a local business. The footage captures eyewitnesses watching the tragedy unfold before rushing out to save those who were pinned inside the vehicle.
"We tried to grab the baby initially, first and foremost. She was kind of pinned in, and I was reaching back, [but] the front seat was a little hard to get. And he just starts yanking on the front seat. I started yanking on the car seat for the baby to get her out and we were actually able to get her out before she was pinned in," recounted Raymond Romo, an eyewitness who tried to save those in the crushed vehicle.
The Harris County Sheriff’s Office reported that the concrete mixing truck was headed southbound on the beltway when it began to rain. The driver of the cement truck reportedly lost control due to the slick road conditions and crashed through the overpass.
Romo told Houston’s KPRC that he saw the cement truck swerve to avoid a car. He then saw the truck dangling from the overpass as cars below attempted to move out of the way before it fell and landed on the Ford Expedition.
"We saw it when we were in the middle of the parking lot land on the vehicle," adding, "instantly, me and my friend Joe, we went into action."
The three survivors were taken to a nearby hospital with minor injuries. The driver of the cement truck, a 36-year-old woman, also sustained minor injuries. An investigation by the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences and the Harris County District Attorney’s Office did not immediately find probable cause to support charges.
"I called my wife and told her to give my kids a hug and a kiss, give them a hug and a kiss because you never know," Romo told reporters.