China News Service, San Francisco, March 2nd. US media reported on the 2nd local time that an SUV carrying 25 people and a semi-trailer truck collided on the Southern California highway close to the U.S.-Mexico border on the same day, resulting in a collision. 13 people were killed and many others were injured and sent to hospital.
The accident occurred at an intersection in Impiril County, Southern California, about 16 kilometers from the U.S.-Mexico border.
The Associated Press quoted California Highway Patrol Officer Omar Watson as saying that the accident occurred at about 6:15 in the morning and the SUV involved was a 1997 Ford Expedition.
The police said that the semi-trailer truck transporting gravel was driving north on the two-lane highway, while the SUV was driving west along the road that intersects the highway.
Authorities are not sure if the SUV driver has parked in front of the stop sign before entering the lane where the truck is driving.
The truck hit the left side of the SUV, and the two cars stopped on the side of the road in a collision position.
The authorities are not yet sure about the speed of the two vehicles at the time of the incident.
The Associated Press reported that when first responders arrived at the scene, 12 people were found dead.
Watson said that another person died in the hospital.
The SUV driver has been killed and the truck driver was admitted to the hospital with serious injuries.
Other people in the SUV were taken to several local hospitals by plane or car due to injuries such as fractures and head injuries.
Todd Burke of the Desert Region Medical Center said three of the four patients treated at the medical center are in the intensive care unit.
CNN quoted Watson as saying that the injured were between 16 and 55 years old, and the dead were between 20 and 55 years old.
Ford Expedition SUV usually can legally accommodate 8 people, and the police still don’t know why 25 people squeezed into the SUV involved.
A U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesperson, Macario Mora, said the Border Patrol is assisting other law enforcement agencies in investigating the crash.
He said that the identity of the people in the SUV is not yet known.
Watson said that the authorities are working with the Mexican consulate to determine the identity of the person in the car and notify his close relatives.
The Los Angeles Times reported that for many years, many car accidents along the US-Mexico border were related to the pursuit of immigrants by the US authorities.
At present, there is no evidence that the crash involved a pursuit operation.
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