The Associated Press

EL PASO, Texas—Two Fort Bliss soldiers racing along Interstate 10 caused a four-car crash that killed one person and shut down a portion of the freeway for several hours, police said Friday.

Authorities did not how fast the soldiers, whose unit returned late last year from a 15-month tour in Iraq, were driving late Thursday but suggested it was at a high rate of speed.

Sgt. Trevor Leigh Fisher, 23, was arrested on charges that include racing on a highway causing death. The pileup began when Fisher’s 2005 Pontiac GTO rear-ended another car, killing a passenger inside, El Paso police spokesman Javier Sambrano said.

Spc. Travis Enloe, 27, was allegedly racing Fisher and was taken to a hospital with minor injuries. He will be arrested on felony racing charges after being released, Sambrano said.

Both soldiers are of the Fort Bliss-based 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division.

El Paso County jail records show Fisher he was being held Friday on $85,000 bail. The records did not show if he had a lawyer.

Mario Oscar Batres, 23, died at the scene after Fisher rear-ended the Nissan Sentra he was in, police said. He was riding in the back seat.

Another passenger in the Sentra was hospitalized with serious injuries and the driver had minor injuries, authorities said.

Sambrano said it was unclear Friday if alcohol was a factor in the high-speed crash.