AT LEAST 13 CAR PASSENGERS KILLED IN HORROR CRASH
LOS ANGELES: At least 13 people were killed in southern California when a vehicle packed with passengers collided with a large truck in a “chaotic scene” close to the Mexico border, officials said.
The accident occurred when the SUV carrying more than two dozen people, including children, and a semitrailer full of gravel crashed near El Centro, California.
The area of the state is a thoroughfare for Mexican immigrants and farmworkers headed north towards California’s rich agricultural centre, but officials said it was still unknown whether the passengers were migrants.
“It’s too early to say what they were doing and where they were coming from,” Omar Watson of the California Highway Patrol said.
A total of 25 occupants, including the driver, were crammed into the large SUV at the time of the crash.
“We had 12 fatalities on scene, one person passed over at the hospital, a total of 13 people passed away,” Mr Watson said.
Among the dead was the 22-year-old driver.
Later, the nearby El Centro Regional Medical Centre reported that 15 people had died and that the SUV had contained 28 individuals.
The Ford Expedition SUV would have a legal capacity of about eight people, according to the carmaker’s website.
Images of the collision showed that the semi-trailer crashed into the side of a burgundy-coloured SUV, which appeared to have California licence plates.
According to Mr Watson, the accident occurred when the SUV entered an intersection in front of the semi-trailer, although it was not known whether the smaller vehicle had stopped at the stop sign.
“Some people were ejected onto the pavement and died as a result of those injuries,” Mr Watson said.
“Other people were found deceased within the vehicle. There were children inside the vehicle but we don’t have all the ages yet.”
He described the crash site as “a pretty chaotic scene”.
The cab of the truck was almost intact but the SUV, although still on its four wheels, was badly damaged.
The 69-year-old driver of the semi-trailer sustained moderate injuries.