2023-05-08 00:25:05
At least seven people were killed Sunday when a car plowed into a group of people waiting at a bus stop near an immigrant assistance center in south Texas, police said.
Law enforcement said it was now treating the accident as unintentional, although a witness told AFP that the driver insulted the group before driving at them at breakneck speed.
Local police spokesman Martin Sandoval told AFP that a gray SUV “ran a red light and ran over several people” around 8:30 am (1330 GMT) in Brownsville, a border city in the far south of Texas.
He said seven people were killed and “nearly 10” others were wounded.
Witness Luis Herrera, who was injured in the arm, told AFP that the run-over was “surprising.”
The 36-year-old Venezuelan added, “It was a matter of moments. The killer came in his car, gestured at us and insulted us,” indicating that he drove his car at full speed.
People at the scene detained the driver, who Sandoval said was also taken to hospital, and has now been charged with reckless driving by police.
“It is likely that there will be other charges at a later time,” Sandoval said earlier on a local channel affiliated with the “ABC” network, stressing that the police have opened an investigation to find out whether the fatal accident was accidental or intentional.
The executive director of the Ozanam homeless shelter across the street, Victor Maldonado, said the victims were among a crowd of regarding 25 people waiting at the bus stop.
He added that everyone was Venezuelan and had finished eating breakfast at the center, describing the scene as horrific as body parts were scattered along the road.
Maldonado pointed out that the center is open 24 hours a day, and “we used to house people from Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, China, Ukraine (…) and many Venezuelans.”
Sandoval said at least some of the victims were immigrants, without confirming whether all of them were.
“It is something we are investigating with the border police,” he said.
This tragedy comes as the US authorities prepare, on Thursday, to lift the federal policy on immigrants that was imposed under former US President Donald Trump and allows border guards to deport immigrants without even accepting their asylum applications.
The expiry of the measure known as “Article 42” has led to the authorities’ fear of an increase in the number of illegal immigrants entering the United States.
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