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Report: Air bag may have killed man in Texas

 
Published Jan. 30, 2015

Another victim?

Report: Air Bag may have killed man in Texas

HOUSTON — Federal safety regulators are looking into the death of a Texas man who may be the latest victim of exploding automobile air bags made by Takata Corp. of Japan.

The man, identified by authorities as Carlos Solis, 35, died in a low-speed crash in the Houston area when an air bag inflated and sent shrapnel into his neck, U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., said Thursday on the Senate floor.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it was gathering information on the crash, which involved a 2002 Honda Accord and occurred Jan. 18. Honda said in a statement that the car was part of a 2011 national recall to fix the driver's air bag inflators, but records show the repairs had not been made. The company urged anyone with a vehicle recalled for air bag problems to take cars to dealers as soon as possible.

If authorities determine that the air bag inflator mechanism caused Solis' death, he would be the sixth person killed because of the problem, according to Nelson. Four victims were in the United States, while another was in Malaysia.

Associated Press