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5 people killed, 1 critically injured, in fiery crash in Fannin County

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CBS News Texas Live

Five people were killed, and another critically injured, in a two-vehicle crash in Fannin County this week.

The Texas Department of Public Safety said the crash happened just before 6 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 14 near the community of Randolph, between McKinney and Bonham. A 2022 Mercedes Benz AMG GT was driving southbound on State Highway 121 when it attempted to pass in a no-passing zone. The Mercedes Benz collided head-on with a 2016 Hyundai Tucson that was driving northbound, and both vehicles caught fire.

According to CBS affiliate KXII, the vehicles burned for hours after the initial crash.

DPS said four people were in the Mercedes Benz and three of them were pronounced dead at the scene:

  • The driver, Chiranjeevi Sivaa Rajaneni, 30, from Coppell.   
  • Gopi Thirumuru, 30
  • Haritha Reddy Degapui, 27

A fourth person in the Mercedes Benz was flown to Medical City Plano with critical injuries.

Both people inside the Huyndai were killed:

  • Danielha Rodriguez from Broken Bow, Oklahoma. DPS did not provide her age.
  • Maria del Carmen Santiz-Lopez, 64

A GoFundMe campaign purporting to raise money for the funerals of Rodriguez and Santiz-Lopez said they were grandmother and granddaughter, and that Rodreguez had an 11-month-old baby girl.

DPS said the investigation is ongoing.

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