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HOLTVILLE, Calif. (Reuters) - At least 13 people, 10 of them Mexican nationals, were killed on Tuesday when a tractor-trailer slammed into an SUV crammed with 25 adults and children on a dusty Southern Californian road near the U.S.-Mexico border, officials said.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents opened an investigation into whether human smuggling was involved, an agency spokeswoman said in a statement hours later.
Handmade wooden crosses stretched in a line across a patch of dry grass and dirt by the roadside, and a seat covered in what appeared to be blood lay near the crumpled Ford Expedition, as the desolate highway through the farming community of Holtville remained closed Tuesday afternoon.
Gregory Bull / AP
Updated at 5:54 p.m. ET
At least 13 people died in a vehicle crash in Imperial County, Calif., on Tuesday, when a crowded Ford Expedition SUV collided with a gravel truck. Local hospital officials initially said 15 people died from the crash, but the California Highway Patrol later lowered the figure.
The terrible collision took place Tuesday morning north of the city of Holtville, according to the Imperial County Fire Department. Emergency teams responded to the collision at the intersection where Norrish Rd. crosses a larger thoroughfare, California State Route 115. At this point, it s unknown whether or not the Expedition stopped at the stop sign, California Highway Patrol Chief Omar Watson said, but it did enter the intersection in front of the big rig.
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Very sad : At least 13 dead after truck slams into SUV carrying 25 near US-Mexico border Grace Hauck, Colin Atagi and Christal Hayes, USA TODAY
At least 13 dead after truck crashes into SUV packed with 25 people near US-Mexico border
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HOLTVILLE, Calif. At least 13 people died after an SUV packed with dozens of passengers collided with a semitruck near the U.S.-Mexico border Tuesday, according to California Highway Patrol officials.
California Highway Patrol Division Chief Omar Watson said the crash involved a big rig hauling two trailers and a Ford Expedition carrying 25 people. The big rig smashed into the side of the SUV before 6:15 a.m. PST at the intersection of State Route 115 and Norrish Road near Holtville, about 50 miles west of Arizona and 10 miles north of the border.
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IMPERIAL COUNTY, Calif. At least 13 people were confirmed dead Tuesday at the scene of a collision involving an SUV and a semi-truck in Imperial County, California. The mass casualty occurred near the intersection of Highway 115 at Norrish Road in the small town of Holtville, KESQ reported. The crash site is about 125 miles east of San Diego.
The El Centro Regional Medical Center said during a Tuesday news conference that there were 28 passengers inside an “SUV” that struck a semi-truck full of gravel. Four people were flown out from the scene via helicopter to Desert Regional Medical Center, and seven people were transported to El Centro Regional Medical Center, one of whom died after arrival, officials said.