Eight folks had been killed when a driver suspected of human smuggling tried to evade authorities and crashed head-on into one other car, the Texas Division of Public Security stated Wednesday.
The crash occurred round 6:30 a.m. on U.S. Freeway 57 close to Batesville, about 83 miles southwest of San Antonio.
The motive force, 21, who was in a Honda, had evaded authorities from the Zavala County Sheriff’s Workplace and “handed an 18-wheeler in a no-passing zone,” Lt. Chris Olivarez, a spokesperson with the Texas Division of Public Security, stated by e mail and in a post on X.
The motive force crashed head-on right into a Chevrolet SUV, inflicting the car to burst into flames, Olivarez stated. Photographs launched by the company confirmed each automobiles utterly mangled, with particles scattered throughout the freeway.
Six folks had been within the Honda, Olivarez stated. Two folks from Georgia had been within the Chevrolet SUV. Everybody was killed, officers stated.
A number of of the folks within the Honda had been from Honduras, Olivarez stated.
Names of among the useless had been being withheld till relations could be notified, authorities stated. The crash stays beneath investigation.
The 2 folks within the Chevrolet SUV that had been killed had been recognized as Jose Lerma, 67, and Isabel Lerma, 65, of Dalton, Georgia.
Final yr, more than 50 migrants were found dead in an deserted huge rig within the sweltering warmth of San Antonio in what’s believed to be the deadliest human smuggling case in fashionable U.S. historical past. The invention was made when an individual who labored within the space heard somebody crying for assist and noticed no less than one physique, officers stated.
A number of crashes, some deadly, have additionally been linked to human smuggling instances. Final November, one person was killed and 11 others were hospitalized in La Joya, Texas, about 5 miles from the Mexico border, when the motive force evaded legislation enforcement and disregarded a purple mild. Authorities suspected the case concerned human smuggling due to the variety of folks concerned.
A similar crash occurred in Encinal, Texas, in June 2022 when 4 migrants had been killed and two others had been injured when a car carrying the migrants crashed right into a TNI Trucking Co. car.
This text was initially revealed on NBCNews.com