Reliably Austin
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

SXSW Crash Update: Third Victim Dies From Injuries

A patient injuredin last week's car collisionwith South by Southwest crowds has died. 

Sandy Thuy Le, 26, died this morning at University Medical Center Brackenridge. She was an Austin resident, according to social media.

Le is the third to die from injuries incurred in the Thursday morning crash; 27 year-old Austinite Jamie Ranae West and 35 year-old Dutch visitor Steven Craenmehr were pronounced dead at the crash scene. 

See the latest news on victim conditions here.
 
In a press conference the day of the crash, Dr. Christopher Ziebell, medical director of Brackenridge's emergency department, said he had "a great deal of concern and worry" over the hospital's critical patients, saying "these are the worst kind of injuries we see.
On Friday, police charged 21 year-old Rashad Owens with capital murder for the killing of West and Craenmehr.
 
Update: SXSW Cares Fundraising Tops $100K

Over $70,000 worth of online donations have been made for victims of last week's crash. But James Moody, whose Mohawk nightclub sits facing the crash site, says the total is actually much higher than that.

Moody has been involved in launching and promoting the SXSW Cares fund, which is being administered by the Austin Community Foundation.

He says many individuals and businesses have donated amounts that are not yet officially included in that total.

"We jumped immediately into raising money," he says. "We thought we were going to raise 50 grand. Here we are at 125 and growing. So it speaks for itself. This is a strong, supportive community for sure."

Moody says skate apparel company Vans, who had set up shop at the Mohawk over SXSW, donated over $20,000; an anonymous $20,000 donation has also come in, along with other sizable donations.

Moody says the fundraising effort – like initial response on the crash scene – demonstrates "the amazing community" found in Austin.

"When the actual accident happened, we didn’t have a lot of support; there was just so much going on at the moment. And the people helping the victims in the street were staff from the clubs, they were people who were actually waiting in line that happened to be nurses, it was just people helping people on site. … This is a strong, supportive community for sure."

Representatives from SXSW, the Austin Convention and Visitors Bureau and the City of Austin will work with the Austin Community Foundation to distribute the funds.

Wells has been a part of KUT News since 2012, when he was hired as the station's first online reporter. He's currently the social media host and producer for Texas Standard, KUT's flagship news program. In between those gigs, he served as online editor for KUT, covering news in Austin, Central Texas and beyond.
Related Content