15 killed in crash involving big rig and SUV carrying 27 people near Us-mexico border

LOS ANGELES — A collision between a semitruck and an SUV carrying more than two dozen people near the U.s.-mexico border Tuesday morning has left 15 dead and several others injured, officials said.

Twenty-seven people were in the SUV when it struck a tractor-trailer hauling gravel, said Judy Cruz, the El Centro Regional Medical Center’s emergency department director.

Fourteen people died at the scene. One more died at El Centro Regional Medical Center, where six others are being treated, Cruz said. At least five more have been flown from the scene to other treatment centers, she said.

“The patients are, of course, going through a little bit of a difficult time,” said Adolphe Edward, chief executive of El Centro Regional Medical Center. “This was a major accident, and we are taking care of them in the emergency room department.”

Photos from the scene show a burgundy SUV, with the driver’s side wrapped around the front of the semitruck. The SUV’S windshield is shattered, and debris is scattered on the ground around the two vehicles.

Four people were airlifted by helicopter to the Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs, where three of them are in intensive care, hospital public information officer Todd Burke said.