At least 11 people are dead, including the driver, and 13 others injured after a van crashed Wednesday on a remote South Texas highway, according to authorities.
The crash happened shortly after 4 p.m. on U.S. 281 in Encino, Texas, about 50 miles north of McAllen, Texas. The van was carrying 25 suspected migrants, Brooks County Sheriff Urbino “Benny” Martinez told The Monitor.
Martinez said the van, designed to hold 15 passengers, was top-heavy and tipped over when the driver lost control on a curve, reported the Associated Press.
A witness reportedly saw a Ford van speeding along that highway when the driver tried making a turn, and the van crashed into a metal utility pole, Texas DPS Sgt. Nathan Brandley told KTRK.
Encino is a community of about 140 residents about 2 miles south of the Falfurrias Border Patrol checkpoint.
Earlier this year in March, at least 13 people, including the driver, died after an SUV packed with at least 25 undocumented migrants collided with a semi-truck near the U.S.-Mexico border in California. The van Wednesday did not appear to be involved in a pursuit, Martinez told The Monitor.
“Cramming dozens of people into eight-passenger vehicles and driving recklessly to avoid detection shows an utter disregard for human life,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Randy Grossman in a March statement. “We will find and prosecute smugglers who use these methods and cause such tragic and avoidable deaths.”
The Department of Justice sued the state of Texas and Gov. Greg Abbott last Friday for an executive order that directed state troopers to pull over vehicles suspected of carrying unauthorized migrants in federal custody. The order was blocked Wednesday by a federal judge.
Contributing: Associated Press
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