Lawsuits fly in Pharr bridge inferno

PHARR - Grieving families of the four people killed in a fiery truck crash on the Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge are lobbing accusations at nearly every party that could have been involved.

The trucking companies, the rig drivers, the city of Pharr and even the paving company that placed concrete barriers on the bridge face legal action in a group lawsuit involving at least 15 different legal firms on behalf of the four families.

"It's become a bit complicated. There's just so many lawyers," said Douglas Dilley, a San Antonio-based attorney representing a widow and children of one of the dead - Mission resident Hugo Oswaldo Hinojosa, who was in the pickup truck that flipped off the bridge.

"I've never seen this before."

On Jan. 10, a tractor-trailer driver smacked a concrete barrier, lost control of his rig and jackknifed into oncoming traffic, bursting into flames and causing the accident that killed four, according to a Pharr police accident report obtained last week.

The new report is the first official detailed account of that fiery night.

Source continues