Man charged with intoxication manslaughter in Texas crash involving 17 vehicles that killed 5 people

A man was charged Friday with intoxication manslaughter after five people were killed and several injured in a late-night wreck in Austin, Texas, that involved over a dozen vehicles on Interstate 35, authorities said.

Authorities said that the five people killed in the crash that involved 17 vehicles Thursday just before 11:30 p.m. included three adults, a child and an infant. First responders said that 11 people were taken to hospitals.

Solomun Weldekeal Araya, 37, was charged with five counts of intoxication manslaughter and two counts of intoxication assault after the crash, Austin police said Friday. Police said he was in custody in Travis County Jail. It was not immediately clear if he had an attorney. Jail records did not list an attorney for him.

Police have not detailed the circumstances that led to the wreck. Police said in an email Friday that they were still early in the investigation and had no further information available to release.

The southbound lanes of I-35 were closed following the crash, and they remained closed into Friday before reopening at about 1 p.m. The wreck left a stretch of the interstate littered with mangled vehicles and debris.

The collision was “very large and very complex,” police Officer Austin Zarling said at an early morning news conference.

Edgar Viera told the KXAN television station that he was at a nearby store when he heard the crash and went to try to help those involved.

“We didn’t have the proper tools to open the vehicles, so we just did what we could,” Viera told the station. “It was hard to see this.”

This booking photo provided by Austin Police Department shows Solomun Weldekeal Araya. (Austin Police Department via AP)

Officials examine the aftermath of a fatal crash on I-35 southbound near Parmer Lane Friday March 14, 2025 in Austin, Texas. (Jay Janner /Austin American-Statesman via AP)

Officials examine the aftermath of a fatal crash on I-35 southbound near Parmer Lane Friday March 14, 2025 in Austin, Texas. (Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman via AP)

Officials examine the aftermath of a fatal crash on I-35 southbound near Parmer Lane Friday March 14, 2025 in Austin, Texas. (Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman via AP)

Officials examine the aftermath of a fatal crash on I-35 southbound near Parmer Lane Friday March 14, 2025 in Austin, Texas. (Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman via AP)

Officials examine the aftermath of a fatal crash on I-35 southbound near Parmer Lane Friday March 14, 2025 in Austin, Texas. (Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman via AP)

Officials examine the aftermath of a fatal crash on I-35 southbound near Parmer Lane Friday March 14, 2025 in Austin, Texas. (Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman via AP)

Officials examine the aftermath of a fatal crash on I-35 southbound near Parmer Lane Friday March 14, 2025 in Austin, Texas. (Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman via AP)

CAIRO (AP) — Hamas said Saturday it would only release an American-Israeli and the bodies of four other hostages if Israel implements the existing ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip, calling it an “exceptional deal” aimed at getting the truce back on track.

A senior Hamas official said long-delayed talks over the ceasefire's second phase would need to begin the day of the release and last no longer than 50 days. Israel would also need to stop barring the entry of humanitarian aid and withdraw from a strategic corridor along Gaza's border with Egypt.

Hamas would also demand the release of more Palestinian prisoners in exchange for hostages, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the closed-door talks.

Edan Alexander, 21, who grew up in Tenafly, New Jersey, was abducted from his military base during Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack that ignited the war, and is the last living American citizen held in Gaza.

There was no immediate comment from Israel, where government offices were closed for the weekly Sabbath. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office on Friday accused Hamas of “manipulation and psychological warfare” when the offer was initially made, before Hamas spelled out the conditions.

The United States said it presented on Wednesday a proposal to extend the ceasefire a few more weeks as the sides negotiate a permanent truce. It said Hamas was claiming flexibility in public while privately making “entirely impractical” demands.

Negotiations continued in Egypt after senior Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya arrived in Cairo on Friday. Egypt and Qatar served as key mediators with Hamas in reaching the ceasefire and have continued to host talks aimed at getting it back on track.

There was no immediate comment from the mediators.

Under the ceasefire agreement reached in January, Israel and Hamas were to begin negotiations over a second phase — in which Hamas would release all the remaining hostages in exchange for a lasting truce — in early February, but so far only preparatory talks have been held.

After the first phase ended at the beginning of this month, Israel said it had agreed to a new U.S. proposal in which Hamas would release half the remaining hostages in return for a vague commitment to negotiate a lasting ceasefire. Hamas rejected that offer, accusing Israel of backtracking on the signed agreement and trying to sabotage the truce.

Israel has barred the delivery of food, fuel and other supplies to Gaza's roughly 2 million Palestinians, and cut electricity to the territory, to pressure Hamas to accept the new proposal.

The first phase of the truce, which took hold on Jan. 19, saw the release of 25 Israeli hostages and the bodies of eight more in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. Israeli forces pulled back to a buffer zone along Gaza's border and allowed a surge of humanitarian aid.

An Israeli official said last month that Israel will not withdraw from the so-called Philadelphi corridor, along the Gaza-Egypt border, as called for in the ceasefire agreement. They have cited the need to combat weapons smuggling.

The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostage. The group is still holding 59 hostages, 24 of whom are believed to be alive, after most of the rest were freed in ceasefire agreements.

Israel's military offensive has killed over 48,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which does not say how many of the dead were combatants. Israel says it has killed around 20,000 militants, without providing evidence.

The war has destroyed vast areas of Gaza, displaced most of the population and left nearly everyone dependent on international aid to survive.

Follow AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

Displaced Palestinians burn waste in central Gaza Strip on Friday, March 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Palestinians walk amid the rubble of destroyed homes and buildings in Jabaliya, northern Gaza Strip on Friday, March 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Palestinians walk amid the rubble of destroyed homes and buildings in Jabaliya, northern Gaza Strip on Friday, March 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Palestinians walk amid the rubble of destroyed homes and buildings in Jabaliya, northern Gaza Strip on Friday, March 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)