HOLTVILLE, California (AP) – Barely a mile from where an SUV with 25 people hit a tractor trailer and killed 13 people inside. desert.
Authorities are investigating whether human trafficking was involved in the collision early Tuesday morning in which the 22-year-old male driver of the SUV and 12 passengers were killed. The Mexican government said ten of the deceased were Mexican citizens and that the nationalities of the three others who died had not been determined.
The seats of the 1997 Ford Expedition have been removed, except for the driver and passenger on the right, said Omar Watson, head of the California Highway Patrol’s border division.
According to authorities, the cause of the collision was not determined, and it was also unknown why so many people were trapped in a vehicle built to keep eight people safe. But it is known that smugglers tackle people in extremely unsafe conditions to maximize profits.
The accident occurred during the harvest peak in the Imperial Valley in California, which supplies many lettuce, onions, broccoli and winter vegetables to U.S. supermarkets. Holtville, an unobstructed city with a garden house in its large central square, calls it the world’s root capital.
The area became a major route for illegal border crossings in the late 1990s after the increasing application in San Diego drove migrants to more remote areas. Many people crossed the All-American Canal, an aqueduct that runs along the border and releases the Colorado River water to farms through an extensive network of canals.
At the back of the Terrace Park Cemetery in Holtville, a few bricks – rows of them – are the unidentified remains of people who have died, many of whom are migrants.
In 2001, John Hunter founded Water Station, a volunteer group that leaves cans of water in giant plastic bins for dehydrated migrants.
“I was trying to figure out how to stop the deaths,” said Hunter, whose brother Duncan, as a member of Congress, worked hard to build boundary walls.
Illegal intersections declined sharply in the mid-2000s, but the area remains an attraction for migrants and was a priority for wall construction under former President Donald Trump. His administration’s first wall project was in Calexico.
U.S. immigration and customs officials said on Tuesday that agents in its Department of Homeland Security were investigating “human trafficking” (following Tuesday’s crash). The investigation is continuing and there are currently no further details available. ‘
When police arrived about 200 miles east of San Diego, some passengers tried to crawl out of the crumpled sports utility vehicle while others wandered through the fields. The front of the rig was pushed into the left side of the SUV and two empty trailers were clipped behind it.
“It was a pretty chaotic scene,” Watson said.
The border patrol said its agents were not pursuing the vehicle.
People in the vehicle were between 15 and 53 years old and were a mix of men and women, officials said. The driver was from Mexicali, Mexico, just across the border, and was under death. The 68-year-old driver of the large rig, who hails from nearby El Centro, was admitted to hospital with moderate injuries.
Passengers’ injuries ranged from minor to serious and included fractures and head trauma. They were cared for in several hospitals. One person was treated in a hospital and released.
The crash occurred at about 6:15 a.m. under clear, sunny skies at an intersection just outside Holtville, about 18 miles north of the border. According to authorities, the tractor trailer and its two empty containers were heading north on Highway 115 when the sports utility vehicle pulled off a road with a stop sign in front of it.
According to a California Highway Patrol report, the SUV entered an intersection directly in front of the large vehicle, which hit the left side of the SUV. Both vehicles came to a halt on a dirty shoulder.
It is not clear if the SUV had a stop sign or stopped before entering the highway. Speed was also unknown.
The speed limit for tractor trailers on the highway is 55 km / h (88.5 km / h), according to CHP officer Jake Sanchez. The other road is also 55 km / h for vehicles.
A 1997 Ford Expedition can carry a maximum load of 2000 pounds. Frank Borris, former head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Office of Defects Investigation, says Frank Borris, former head of the traffic safety administration’s office, sent in 25 people.
“You will have longer stopping distances, delayed responses to steering inputs, and potential overreactions to any form of rapid change,” said Borris, who now runs a safety consulting firm.
SUVs of that age tended to be top-heavy, even without carrying a lot of weight, Borris said.
“With all the payload above the vehicle’s center of gravity, it will make it even more unstable,” he said.
The accident took place amid green farms with a wide variety of vegetables and lucerne used for animal feed. Many workers commute daily from Mexico during the harvest and take buses and sports utility vehicles to the fields from downtown Calexico just before dawn.
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Associated Press reporters Stefanie Dazio in Los Angeles, Julie Watson in San Diego, Anita Snow in Phoenix, Tom Krisher in Detroit and Mark Stevenson in Mexico City contributed.