HOUSTON — A woman died after being trapped in a fiery crash in southwest Houston Tuesday night, according to the Houston Police Department.
This happened around 10:45 p.m. on South Gessner near West Belfort right in front of Welch Middle School.
Houston police said the car was driving at a high rate of speed and failed to stay in a single lane when it hit the curb of the grassy median and then crashed into a tree with the passenger side of the car.
The vehicle split in two pieces and the crash immediately led to the car becoming engulfed in flames. A witness described what he saw.
“I started hearing explosions and I thought, ‘Is it shotgun shots? Or is it firecrackers going off?’ Or if something like Roman candles, it was like a ‘boom’ explosion like a deep explosion,” William Young said. “It was a huge blaze, it was.”
The 20-year-old man who was driving was able to get out of the vehicle and called for help while the 21-year-old woman who was the passenger remained trapped.
A HPD district office is located near where the incident happened and officers there tried to put out the flames.
“They came over here, they attempted to put the fire out with fire extinguishers, once the fireworks went off, and the car got extremely hot, the little fire extinguishers really weren’t able to put out the flames,” HPD Sgt. Dionne Griffiths said. “So the fire department arrived and they were able to put out the flames of the car.”
The identity of the woman is pending.
Police said the man who was driving was taken to a hospital for minor injuries and was determined not to be impaired. No charges have been filed.
The investigation remains ongoing.