Vehicle collides with food truck in Austin, Texas; 11 hurt

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Eleven people were injured in a “major collision” Friday night in Austin, Texas, involving pedestrians and two vehicles, one of which hit a food truck, authorities said.

Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services tweeted that two of the victims sustained potential life-threatening injuries. Seven others sustained non-life-threatening injuries requiring medical evaluation. The other two didn’t require hospitalization.

The collision occurred in a popular area near downtown Austin where there are frequently several food carts stationed.

Jennifer Dunn, an employee at a nearby restaurant, told The Associated Press that a group of 25 people had just left to get ice cream at a food truck a few feet away when patrons inside the restaurant heard a loud boom.

Dunn said several members of the group then ran back inside injured and asking for help. Dunn said she and others ran to the scene where several people, including the drivers, appeared severely hurt.

“We work in the restaurant industry, so we are used to helping,” Dunn said. “I have been doing this for a long (time), so have the servers and we just wanted to help.”

Ten of the people injured in the collision are employees of Sorenson Communications, a Salt Lake City-based company.

A statement from the company was released Saturday morning, which reads in full:

“We are devastated to report that on Fri., April 8, ten Sorenson employees who were in Austin, Texas preparing to attend a DeafNation Expo were injured when two vehicles collided at an intersection, sending one vehicle into the Sorenson group which had gathered near a food truck. The injured employees were transported to two local hospitals and treated for varying degrees of serious injuries.

Sorenson immediately drew upon its resources to dispatch sign language interpreters to the crime scene and to the hospitals. A Certified Deaf Interpreter was made available to further support Deaf employees’ communication needs. Sorenson contacted the families of injured employees to offer support and will continue to provide hospitalized Deaf patients with sign language interpreters, and with supportive resources, including counseling services through the company’s Employee Assistance program.

Sorenson CEO Jorge Rodriguez is flying to Austin to visit injured employees as well as employees who quickly mobilized to provide on-the-ground support to colleagues. “We are deeply saddened by this tragic event. Our hearts are with those in the Sorenson family who sustained injuries and with those impacted by the event,” said Sorenson CEO Jorge Rodriguez. “We continue to support them on their road to recovery and healing.”

Salt Lake City-based Sorenson is the leading provider of accessible communication services for people who are Deaf and hard-of-hearing.”

Austin is the Texas state capital and home to the flagship campus of the University of Texas.

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Associated Press reporter Acacia Coronado contributed to this report, along with KSL TV’s Madison Swenson.