A former beauty queen was killed in a crash that also left two others with serious injuries when the pickup truck she was in crashed into a ravine and burst into flames. Samanta Villarreal was in a Ford Lobo in the northeastern state of Nuevo León, Mexico, when the vehicle crashed and flipped over on a bridge on Sunday.
The impact of the collision caused the pickup truck to tumble down a slope, where it burst into flames. Firefighters and Red Cross paramedics were able to extract all three victims from the vehicle. Villarreal, mother to a four-year-old girl, was found without vital signs and pronounced dead at the scene.
Horrific Crash Kills Young Mother
Her sister and a friend were immediately transported to Sabinas Hidalgo Hospital, where doctors reported them to be in serious condition as of Tuesday. The Nuevo León State Attorney General's Office has launched an investigation into the accident.
Multiple local news outlets reported that their vehicle was being chased prior to the crash.
Samanta Villarreal was crowned the 2018 Tourism Queen for the Nuevo León municipality of El Carmen and took part in promoting cultural events during her reign.
She studied public accounting at the Nuevo León Autonomous University and lived in Monterrey, the capital city of Nuevo León.
Family Devastated as Tributes Pour In
The model's tragic death has left her family and friends shocked, as well as the beauty pageant community, including Alberto Roque, who manages the state's tourism queen pageant.
"On behalf of the entire Tourism Queen pageant family and myself, we join in prayer with the sadness that overwhelms the Villarreal Nuñez, Villarreal Soto and Núñez Treviño families for the very regrettable loss of Samanta Núñez who participated with enormous pride representing El Carmen in the Nuevo Leon Tourism Queen state pageant in 2018," Roque wrote on Facebook.
"There is pain for which there are no words," he added. "We send you a hug from the bottom of our hearts."
"I can't believe it because God had to take you to heaven, if you had a whole life to live,' Blankys Villarreal wrote. 'RIP Samantha and may the perpetual light shine upon you. Our deepest condolences to the entire family."
