Twenty-five people were in the SUV. Many passengers were thrown on the road.
The 13 people killed in an accident between their SUV and a large platform in southern California on Tuesday are suspected of illegally entering the U.S. that morning, breaking through a fence at the U.S.-Mexico border in a likely attempt to smuggle humans, according to Customs and Border Patrol.
“A 10-foot breach” on a fence between the two countries was reported on Tuesday morning, and agents analyzed the surveillance video showing two “vehicles leaving the area in the vicinity of the breach of the fence,” the patrol said. border crossing on Wednesday.
A Ford Expedition SUV carrying 25 people crashed into the large platform, ejecting many of the SUV’s passengers onto the road late Tuesday, according to the California Highway Patrol.
Twelve people, including the SUV driver, died at the scene, and another person from the SUV died in a hospital, the highway patrol said.
“Everyone is suspected of having entered the United States illegally,” said the border patrol.
The accident occurred near Holtville, in Imperial County, about 200 kilometers east of San Diego and about 16 kilometers from the US-Mexico border.
All survivors were injured to some extent, the highway patrol said. Some suffered head injuries, chest injuries and life-threatening fractures, officials at El Centro Regional Medical Center said on Tuesday.
The agents also found 19 people hiding in the bush near a red Suburban shrouded in flames and “determined that they had entered the country illegally through the breach in the border fence,” the border patrol said.
“We pray for the victims of the accident and their families during this difficult time,” El Centro patrol chief Gregory Bovino said in a statement released on Wednesday by the border patrol.
“Human smugglers have repeatedly proven that they have little regard for human life,” he added. “Those who may be thinking about crossing the border illegally should stop to think about the dangers that often end in tragedy.”
Alex Stone of ABC News contributed to this report.