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The driver of an SUV crammed with 25 people pulled into the path of a big rig at an intersection in a collision that left more than a dozen people dead, according to a preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board.
The burgundy Ford Expedition, designed to hold no more than eight people, was carrying three times that many when it crossed the U.S.-Mexico border before dawn on March 2 through a 10-foot breach in the boundary fence and headed toward El Centro, Calif., federal officials said. The effort is suspected to have been a human smuggling attempt.
LOS ANGELES — The driver of an SUV crammed with 25 people was trying to beat a big rig through the intersection before the deadly collision, according to a preliminary
CALEXICO, Calif.
The Ford Expedition carrying 25 people that was struck by a big rig Tuesday morning, killing 13, had crossed from Mexico after breaching a section of the border fence, federal officials said Wednesday.
Surveillance footage captured the Expedition and another SUV driving through a 10-foot gap in the metal fence near the Gordon’s Well exit, just off Interstate 8, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesman said.
Both vehicles were later involved in separate traffic accidents, including the fatal crash on State Highway 115 and Norrish Road in Holtville.
California Highway Patrol Chief Omar Watson said several of the 25 people crammed into the Ford Expedition were ejected into the road. Twelve died at the scene, and another person died a short time later, he said.
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