15 killed in Calif. crash near Mex.
At least 15 suspected illegal immigrants died in a horrific crash when their severely overpacked SUV collided with a truck north of the US-Mexico border in Southern California on Tuesday morning, authorities said.
The accident happened just after 6:15 a.m. off Highway 115 in Holtville, where a Ford Expedition carrying 28 people was T-boned on the driver’s side by the tractortrailer, according to police.
California Highway Patrol Chief Omar Watson said it was unknown if the SUV had halted at a stop sign — but it was clear that the overpacked vehicle caused “numerous” passengers to be ejected after the collision.
“Obviously, that vehicle was not meant for that many people,” Watson said at a press conference. “It’s unfortunate that that number of people were put into that vehicle because there’s not enough safety restraints to safely keep those people within the vehicle.”
The passengers in the SUV, some of whom “were able to pull themselves out of the vehicle,” ranged in age from 16 to 55, Watson said.
It was unclear how the SUV, which is meant to seat only up to eight people, fit so many passengers.
Watson said he did not believe any seats had been removed.
Fourteen people — the youngest said to be 20 years old and the oldest 55 — were pronounced dead at the scene, according to officials.
“It’s a very sad situation,” Watson said.
More than a dozen others were injured in the crash about 10 miles from the border, officials said.
Seven passengers were rushed to El Centro Regional
Medical Center, but one could not be saved.
Four people were airlifted from the scene to Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs and three were transferred to Pioneers Memorial Hospital in Brawley.
The driver of the truck was one of the injured and was being treated at a local hospital, authorities said.
Dr. Adolphe Edward, the chief executive of the hospital in El Centro, said he believed the passengers were “undocumented migrants,” according to The New York Times.
The Mexican Consulate in Calexico, Calif., confirmed that at least 10 of those killed were Mexican nationals. Law-enforcement and hospital officials said they were in contact with the consulate to help identify the other victims and track down family members.
Authorities have been concerned about car wrecks along the California-Mexico border for decades.
Many of the deadly crashes involve immigrants crossing trying to cross illegally into the United States, with a majority of the accidents happening during chases by American authorities, according to the Los Angeles Times.