Two people killed in separate Fort Worth crashes, police say

FORT WORTH, Texas — Two people died in separate crashes late Thursday night in Fort Worth as roads froze over again, police said.

While the crashes were under investigation and it wasn’t yet known if weather played a factor, the freezing roads created widespread hazardous driving conditions across North Texas.

The first crash happened shortly after 11 p.m. on the Martin Luther King Freeway near East Berry Street in Fort Worth.

A vehicle had stopped when it became disabled in the northbound lanes of the freeway. Another driver stopped to help the vehicle get to the shoulder of the road.

While they were pushing the vehicle off the road, a third vehicle on northbound Martin Luther King hit the disabled vehicle.

The driver of the third vehicle, Zavala Maldonado, was taken to John Peter Smith Hospital, where she died. The driver of the second vehicle, who stopped to help, was also injured in the crash but was expected to survive, police said.

More information about the crash was not immediately available.

A second fatal crash in Fort Worth happened shortly before midnight, around 11:45 p.m., in the northbound lanes of Texas 360 near Texas 183.

A vehicle had become disabled and stopped on the northbound right shoulder on Texas 360. A driver in a second vehicle crashed into the disabled vehicle. The driver of the second vehicle, Bryan “Bubba” Merritt, was taken to Baylor, Scott and White Medical Center in Grapevine, where they died.

The driver of the disabled vehicle left the scene before officers arrived.

More information about the crash was not immediately available.