A BYU student was killed in an automobile accident Saturday morning as he and two friends were on their way to Mexico, according to the sherriff’s department of Valencia County, N.M.
The sherriff’s department said Alejandro Garcia fell asleep at the wheel while heading eastbound on State Road 6 at aproximately 9 a.m. when his car crossed the center line and was hit by a semi truck head on.
Garcia was killed instantly. The driver of the semi recovered Garcia’s friends, Arturo Duran and Patricia Ordaz from the automobile, covered them with blankets and shielded them from the sight of their dead friend, the sherriff’s department said.
Ordaz was taken by ambulance to the University of New Mexico Hospital and listed in stable condition. Duran was life-flighted to the same hospital. She sustained a head injury and was listed in critical condition, said Officer Don Donges, the patrol deputy who first arrived on the scene.
Ordaz has since been released from University Hospital. Duran’s condition had improved to serious condition as of Sunday evening.
The three students were driving to Chihuahua, Mexico, Garcia’s home, to visit the new LDS temple. They left Friday evening at 10 p.m. according to Aaron Bridges, Ordaz’s roommate.
The sherriff’s department will not release any more information until 8 a.m. Monday.
