The SUV carrying 25 people that was hit by a large platform on Tuesday morning, killing 13, recently crossed from Mexico, possibly through a breach in the border wall, federal officials said on Wednesday.
Surveillance footage of a 10-foot breach at the border fence near Gordon’s Well off Interstate 8 showed that the SUV may have been one of two vehicles seen leaving the area that morning, according to US Customs and Border Protection. USA.
“The initial investigation into the origins of the vehicles indicates a potential link with the breach mentioned on the border wall,” said Gregory Bovino, head of sector patrol agent El Centro da Fronteira de Fronteira, in a press release. “Human smugglers have repeatedly proven that they have little regard for human life. Those who may be thinking about crossing the border illegally should stop to think about the dangers that often end in tragedy; tragedies with which our Border Patrol agents and rescuers are, unfortunately, very familiar. “
Several of the 25 people huddled in the Ford Expedition were ejected from the vehicle onto the road by the force of the impact, California Highway Patrol Chief Omar Watson said on Tuesday. Everyone involved died or was injured, Watson said.
An ICE official said on Tuesday that the agency had launched “an investigation into the smuggling of people”.
Macario Mora, a spokesman for the Customs and Border Protection sectors Yuma and El Centro, said in a statement to The Times that agency personnel were not chasing or following the vehicle at the time of the accident, but responded to the scene at the request of the Imperial County Sheriff’s Department.
“CBP personnel were not involved in the accident,” said Mora.
At least 10 of the dead were Mexican citizens, said Roberto Velasco Álvarez, who heads the North America Department for Mexico’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“We continue to work closely with the authorities with the aim of helping Mexicans who are killed and injured,” said Velasco on Twitter. “We offer our deepest condolences and reaffirm our commitment to the families of the people who lost their lives.”
When Elizabeth Strater, a spokesman for United Farm Workers, learned of the accident, her heart sank. She thought of previous traffic accidents with rural workers, where employers placed workers in unsafe vehicles.
UFW took to Twitter on Tuesday, citing a bus accident that killed 19 farmers in 1974 and another that killed 13 tomato pickers in Fresno County in 1999. Initially, said Strater, the organization thought those involved in the Tuesday they could be rural workers, but the evidence from the scene persuaded them otherwise.
“We thought, based on geography, that there was a likelihood that it was transporting agricultural workers,” said Strater. “As soon as we realized it wasn’t a bus or a van, it started to change.”
Strater also looked at the pictures of the wreckage and noticed something missing: lunchboxes.
“It certainly doesn’t give any relief to think, ‘Oh, they’re not farm workers,'” she said.
The exact details of the incident were still being unveiled on Wednesday. The large platform was traveling north on State Highway 115 and Ford was heading west on Norrish Road at the time of the accident, Watson said. The semi dropped the left side of the smaller vehicle and pushed it onto the shoulder.
“At this point, it is not known whether the SUV stopped or not at the stop signal,” said Watson. “For reasons still under investigation, Ford Expedition entered the intersection in front of the large platform.”
In a collision report released on Tuesday, the CHP said semi-pilot Joe Beltran, 68, was from El Centro.
He suffered moderate injuries and was flown to the Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs, along with three passengers in the SUV, according to CHP officials. The vehicle he drove, a 2011 Peterbilt semi, belonged to Havens and Sons Trucking Inc. of El Centro. Several calls to the company were not answered.
The report said the driver of the SUV, a 28-year-old from Mexicali, south of the border, died.
“At the moment, it is not known whether alcohol and drugs were a factor in the collision and whether seat belts were worn,” said the report.
Other injured passengers were treated at El Centro Regional Medical Center; Pioneers Memorial Healthcare District in Brawley, 20 miles away; Scripps Mercy Hospital in San Diego and UC San Diego Medical Center. At least one has already been discharged. Others remain in serious condition with a variety of traumatic injuries.
Dr. Shavonne Borchardt, of the El Centro Regional Medical Center, said the injuries range from fractures to life-threatening head and chest injuries.
Times team writers Matt Ormseth, Andrea Castillo, Molly O’Toole and Maria La Ganga contributed to this report.