Staff report

A two-vehicle wreck north of Silsbee on Sunday night claimed the life of a Buna man.

Texas Department of Public Safety Troopers responded to a crash on U.S. 96 in Hardin County around 9:45 p.m. The crash occurred about one mile north of Silsbee.

Initial reports say a 2011 Ford Mustang, traveling northbound in the inside traffic lane of U.S. 96, was in collision with a southbound 2007 Toyota SUV that was traveling south in the northbound traffic.

Justice of the Peace Chris Ingram pronounced the driver of the Ford Mustang, Colt Kirkendall of Buna, 23, dead at the crash scene.

The driver of the Toyota, Jesse Collier III, 84, of Silsbee, was transported to Baptist Hospital in Beaumont with serious injuries after being extricated from his vehicle.

Troopers were working to determine the exact factors that contributed to this fatal crash.