SUV in crash that killed 13 people entered U.S. through 10-foot hole in border fence: officials
The overloaded SUV that crashed into a semi-truck in Southern California, killing 13 of the 25 people inside the car, entered the U.S. through a 10-foot hole cut into a fence at the border with Mexico, immigration officials said Wednesday.
The doomed Ford Expedition was seen on surveillance video driving through the opening moments before the deadly wreck early Tuesday morning, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which is investigating the botched human smuggling attempt.
Another SUV packed with undocumented immigrants went through the hole around the same time and caught fire after crossing the border, authorities said. All 19 people in that vehicle, a Chevrolet Suburban, escaped the blaze and were taken into custody by Border Patrol agents.
Gregory Bovino, the agency’s El Centro sector chief, said immigration authorities did not try to stop or pursue either vehicle and only learned about the breach after the car fire around 6 a.m.
“We pray for the accident victims and their families during this difficult time,” Bovino said in a statement that appeared to blame migrant smugglers for the tragedies.
“Human smugglers have proven time and again they have little regard for human life,” he said. “Those who may be contemplating crossing the border illegally should pause to think of the dangers that all too often end in tragedy; tragedies our Border Patrol Agents and first responders are unfortunately very familiar with.”
The opening used by the two SUVs was about 30 miles east of the crash, in a major farming region in California’s Imperial Valley. The area has been a popular route for illegal border crossings since the late 1990s, when federal authorities ramped up enforcement in San Diego, pushing migrants to more remote areas.
The barrier that was cut was made of of steel bollards and were built before former President Donald Trump replaced much of the border with taller structures.
Tuesday’s crash killed the driver and 12 passengers inside the Expedition, which is meant to seat only up to eight people. Authorities said all back seats in the car had been removed, allowing only the driver and front-seat passenger to be seated and properly restrained.
It’s not uncommon for smugglers to cram dozens of people into a vehicle so they can maximize their profits for a single trip. Just last month, a refrigerated truck believed to be carrying as many as 200 undocumented immigrants was found at a San Antonio-area gas station near the Mexican border in Texas.
The cause of California crash remains unclear, but investigators believe the 1997 Expedition entered an intersection “directly in the path of the big rig,” which struck the left side of the SUV, said Omar Watson, chief of the California Highway Patrol’s border division.
Several people were ejected from the smaller vehicle and died after hitting the pavement, Watson said. At least 10 victims were Mexican citizens, including the 22-year-old driver.
Many others were hospitalized with injuries that ranged from fractures to life-threatening head trauma, hospital officials said. The ages of the men and women inside the SUV ranged from 15 to 53, but the youngest person to die was 20 years old.
“Obviously, that vehicle is not meant for that many people,” Watson said at a news conference Tuesday. “It’s unfortunate that that many people were put into that vehicle because there’s not enough safety constraints to safely keep those people in that vehicle.”
The driver of the gravel-hauling truck, a 68-year-old California man, sustained moderate injuries.
Authorities are still trying to determine if any of the vehicles were speeding and whether the SUV stopped at a stop sign before entering the intersection.
With News Wire Services
