The 13-year-old Texas boy who was behind the wheel throughout a horrific high-speed crash that killed 9 individuals — together with six school golfers — burned down his household house simply three months in the past, a pal of the household mentioned.
Ricky Siemens was illegally driving when he died alongside his dad, Heinrich Siemens, 38, when the spare tire on their 2007 Dodge 2500 blew out and despatched the car careening onto the alternative facet of a two-lane freeway.
It crashed head-on with a Ford Transit van carrying golfers from the College of the Southwest, six of whom died alongside their 26-year-old coach, whereas two Canadian gamers in essential situation have been airlifted to hospitals.
The younger teen driver — a member of the Mennonite Evangelical Church in his hometown, Seminole — was additionally behind a devastating accident in December that left his household homeless and killed one in all their canines, a pal mentioned.
“Simply earlier than Christmas, their home burned down … The 13-year-old made some eggs and forgot about it,” the household pal, Aganetha, instructed DailyMail.com.
“I couldn’t think about going by means of all that after which to have this occur,” she instructed the outlet. “It’s simply so unhappy.”
She mentioned nobody was damage within the blaze, though a web based fundraiser mentioned that “they misplaced one canine within the fireplace.”
“Their house burned down with all of their private belongings inside,” mentioned the fundraiser, which sought $30,000 and raised simply over a 3rd of that.
“Among the kids ran out of the home with out sneakers. It’s onerous to restart for this household of 6,” it mentioned.
Ricky’s mother, Aggie Siemens, posted an “in loving reminiscence” tribute to her husband and son on Fb, the place she additionally modified her standing to “widow.”
She had referred to the home fireplace in a publish searching for tech assistance on Dec. 14, noting that her “laptop computer was in the home in the course of the fireplace.”
Her son was driving illegally on the time of the crash within the Lone Star State, the place it's important to be 14 to begin taking classroom programs for a learner’s license and 15 to obtain that provisional license to drive with an teacher or licensed grownup within the car.
Whereas it’s common for younger teenagers to drive in that area, “that was dumb” for a 13-year-old to be behind the wheel on a busy two-lane roadway, mentioned Gib Stevens, who leads space trucking operations for an oilfield servicing firm.
The Nationwide Transportation Security Board (NTSB) mentioned Thursday it nonetheless hopes to retrieve sufficient info from the car’s recorders, in the event that they survived, to grasp what occurred.
Though it was unclear how briskly the 2 autos have been touring, “this was clearly a high-speed collision,” NTSB vice chairman Bruce Landsberg mentioned.
With Put up wires
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