State troopers identified the victim of Monday’s fiery semi-trailer collision in Brownsville as a 47-year-old man from Matamoros who was the driver of the gasoline-carrying tractor truck.
In a statement released Tuesday evening, the Texas Department of Public Safety reported that 47-year-old Francisco Guadalupe Salinas Casas of Matamoros, Mexico, perished at the scene due to injuries sustained in the collision.
The accident occurred at approximately 7:02 p.m. on the northbound Toll Road 550 in Brownsville, where troopers stated in a statement that the truck carrying what was previously characterized as “hazardous-flammable material” was traveling at an unsafe speed.
“The truck tractor semi-trailer driver lost control of the vehicle, causing it to strike a concrete barrier and roll onto its side,” troopers said in a statement released Tuesday. “The truck tractor semi-trailer was engulfed in flames due to the gas it was transporting.”
The Texas Department of Transportation at one point shut down westbound State Highway 550 between Baker Lane and IH-69E for several hours as investigators worked the site and crews cleared the area.