FORT WORTH - Authorities were searching Sunday for relatives of a man who was killed late Saturday in a traffic accident on the South Freeway caused by a wrong-way driver.
The 47-year-old victim who died at the scene has been identified, but officials had not been able to reach family members.A woman was arrested late Saturday after the fatal accident that occurred as she drove the wrong way on Interstate 35 with her 6-month-old daughter, police say.Brittany Burton was arrested on suspicion of intoxication manslaughter and endangering a child, police said.A Fort Worth officer spotted a 2011 white Jeep Liberty driven by Burton traveling north in the southbound lanes of South Freeway, said Pedro Criado, a Fort Worth police spokesman.The officer, who was also northbound, used his car’s emergency sirens and horn to try and get the driver’s attention.In the 900 block of South Freeway, north of East Rosedale Street, a southbound Honda Civic swerved onto the inside shoulder to avoid the Jeep.A second vehicle behind the Civic, a Ford, also swerved and struck the Civic, causing severe rear-end damage, Criado said. Both drivers got out to assess the damage.A 2006 Ford work van headed south "also observed the wrong way driver ... (but) did not see the other two vehicles on the shoulder" and crashed into both vehicles, Criado said.The driver of the Honda jumped over the barrier and was not injured, Criado said. The 47-year-old man, the driver of the other vehicle, however, was hit by the van and was pronounced dead at the scene.The officer finally stopped the Jeep several miles away, in the 2300 block of North Freeway.Domingo Ramirez Jr., 817-390-7763; Alex Branch, 817-390-7689
