Icy Roads Claim HS Girls BB Player, 7 Others Injured

[KFDM COOP]

Icy roads claim HS girls basketball player, 7 other players injured

PADUCAH, Texas — A high school girls basketball player was killed and seven others were injured Friday when the sport utility vehicle the team was riding in slid on an icy patch and partially overturned, officials said.

Isaura Puentes, 14, a member of the Paducah High School junior varsity team, was killed when she was partially ejected and pinned under the vehicle, Texas Department of Public Safety spokesman Wayne Beighle said. She was not wearing a seat belt, he said.

The injuries to six other players — all 14 or 15 years old — and the coach did not appear to be life-threatening, Beighle said. One player was taken by helicopter ambulance to an Amarillo hospital but only because the needed medical facilities weren’t available in nearby Childress, Beighle said.

Only the driver — the team’s coach — and the front seat passenger were wearing seat belts, he said.

The team was headed to Munday for a tournament, said Paducah principal Sally Piper. The vehicle was about five miles south of Paducah on U.S. 83 — about 150 miles southeast of Amarillo — when the accident occurred

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[Guest coachhooker]

that is sad to hear my prayers our with the girls family and the school district