SUV packed with migrants crashed, killing at least five, while fleeing Border Patrol agents at about 100 mph on Texas road near the Mexican border. (David Caltabiano/KABB/WOAI via AP)
At least five people were killed when a van packed with undocumented migrants crashed on a Texas highway while being chased by Border Patrol agents, according to local authorities.
Agents tried stopping the man behind the wheel of the Chevy Suburban, but he lost control as he passed another car at speeds up to 100 mph, according Dimmit County Sheriff Marion Boyd.
The driver careened off the road as the SUV flipped repeatedly.
The violent wreck sent most of the 13 passengers — all adults — flying from the vehicle around 11:15 a.m. at the Big Wells city limits.
The mangled vehicle came to a rest in the middle of Highway 85 where the sheriff and witnesses found several ejected passengers crying out in Spanish. Some were suffering from broken limbs, Boyd said, while footage of the crash site shows others lying motionless on the pavement.
“I want to help, but I don’t know if I can handle this s--t,” witness Isaiah Martinez could be heard saying, according to gruesome video of the aftermath.
One deputy, who joined the high-speed chase minutes before the crash, plucked the driver out through a shattered window.
“He saw all the people laying on the road. He made a comment that he knew what was going on, like, ‘Oh s--t,’” the sheriff said of the driver, who suffered minor injuries. “He knew what he had done.”
None of the passengers ejected during the crash were believed to be wearing seat belts. Four of the passengers died at the crash site, while another died at a local hospital. Nine of the victims were rushed to San Antonio Medical Center and Dimmit County Regional Medical Center.
Only two of the passengers were women.
“They pack them in there like sardines. These drivers don’t care,” Boyd said.
He expects the death toll to rise.
Agents from the Carrizo Springs Station spotted the Suburban and two more vehicles in a suspected smuggling convoy while patrolling a rural road around 11 a.m., according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials.
The agents stopped the first two vehicles and the third one kept going, officials said.
The driver, who was not identified, was encountered by local authorities near Big Wells last week. He was either “picking up illegals or scouting the road,” Boyd said.
He was taken into custody by Homeland Security Investigations and hospitalized out of precaution, officials sad.
The sheriff said he has investigated similar wrecks involving migrants in his county.
"We've seen this many, many times, in not only this county but other counties along the border," he said earlier. "It's a problem. This is, I think, a perfect example of why our borders need to be secure."
It was unclear where the migrants were from. Boyd said most migrants who travel through the area are from Central America or Mexico.
Boyd was asked why border patrol agents started the chase.
"It's called good police work," he said.
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