Packed SUV flips, killing 5 children on way to Texas water park

Five children, ages 2 to 13, died when an SUV they were riding in blew a tire and crashed on a Texas highway, police said.

A dozen people were packed into the 2003 GMC Envoy on Monday, on the way to a family outing at Splash Kingdom water park in Canton, Texas, according to Trooper Jean Dark of the Texas Department of Public Safety.

Driver Federico Acuna lost control when the right rear tire exploded on Interstate 20 just outside Canton in Van Zandt County on Monday afternoon, Dark said. Acuna apparently overcorrected and the vehicle flipped, she said.

None of the children who died was wearing a seat belt, Dark said.

While no charges have been filed against Acuna, who was wearing his seat belt and wasn't injured, there is the potential for five charges of criminally negligent homicide, Dark said.