2023-11-09 00:44:02
BATESVILLE, Texas (AP) — Eight people died Wednesday in a crash in South Texas as police pursued a driver suspected of smuggling migrants, the state Department of Public Safety said.
The crash occurred around 6:30 a.m., when the driver of the 2009 Honda Civic — which was transporting migrants and attempted to outrun officers from the Zavala County Police Department — attempted to pass a tractor-trailer on a highway in two lanes, indicated the Department of Public Safety. The Civic crashed into a 2015 Chevrolet Equinox.
The driver and five passengers of the Civic were killed, the DSP added.
Texas Department of Public Safety agents have confirmed that the dead passengers were from Honduras, DSP spokesman Christopher Olivarez said in a statement. Two people on the Equinox also died, he added. They were from Georgia.
The identities of the dead will be released to their families first, Olivarez said.
It is the most recent fatal vehicle crash involving migrants. It was also the highest death toll since 13 people died in a collision in the remote town of Holtville, California, in March 2021.
Local law enforcement agencies have also been involved in deadly crashes in recent years. In June 2022, four migrants died in a smuggling attempt following a police chase in the south Texas city of Encinal.
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