■ The SUV involved in a California crash entered through a hole in the border fence.

Ten of 13 killed in California wreck ID’D as Mexican citizens

HOLTVILLE, Calif. — Thirteen people killed in one of the deadliest crashes involving migrants sneaking into the U.S. had entered California through a hole cut into the border fence with Mexico in what was believed to be a larger smuggling operation, officials said Wednesday.

Surveillance video showed a Ford Expedition and a Chevrolet Suburban drive through the opening early Tuesday, said Gregory Bovino, the Border Patrol’s El Centro sector chief.

The Suburban carried 19 people, and it caught fire for unknown reasons on a nearby interstate after entering the U.S. All of the occupants escaped the vehicle and were taken into custody by Border Patrol agents.

The Expedition crammed with 25 people continued on, and a tractor-trailer struck it a short time later. Ten of the 13 killed in that crash have been identified as Mexican citizens.

The Border Patrol said its agents were not pursuing the vehicle before the wreck. The opening in the fence was about 30 miles east of the crash in the heart of California’s Imperial Valley, a major farming region now at the height of a harvest that provides much of the lettuce, onions, broccoli and winter vegetables to U.S. supermarkets.

The fence section was made of steel bollards that were installed before former President Donald Trump blanketed much of the border with taller barriers that go deeper into the ground. Photos show a panel of eight steel poles was lifted out and left on the ground in the desert next to an old tire and other debris.

“Human smugglers have proven time and again they have little regard for human life,” Bovino said. “Those who may be contemplating crossing the border illegally should pause to think of the dangers that all too often end in tragedy.”

The breach occurred in a busy area for illegal crossings near the Imperial Sand Dunes where migrants often climb over an aging barrier and wait for drivers to pick them up, hoping to avoid the scrutiny of Border Patrol agents at checkpoints on highways leading to Los Angeles, San Diego and Phoenix.