At least ten of the thirteen killed in the crash in California were Mexicans: 25 people were in an eight-seater van

At least ten of the thirteen people who died in the traffic accident Tuesday morning in southern California are Mexican nationals., as reported by the Mexican Government’s North America Branch.

The authorities still do not know why the truck, a model Ford Expedition which admits up to 8 passengers, carried 25 people and where they were going. The reasons that caused the accident between the SUV (light urban all-terrain vehicle) and the semi-trailer at the intersection of a country road, 16 km north of the US-Mexico border.

“It would be premature of me to speculate on what happened in this collision. The important thing is that 13 people died in this accident “California Highway Patrol Border Division chief said, Omar Watson, according to CNN. “We owe it to the families of the dead and injured, as well as to the public, to conduct a full and thorough investigation,” he added.

“We believe there was 27 passengers in the SUV who collided with a semi-trailer full of gravel, ”he said. Judy Cruz, head of emergency at the El Centro medical establishment, a town near the US border with Mexico.

However, Watson contradicted Cruz and said that there was 25 occupants of the van and 13 of them died, including the driver. The passengers in the vehicle were between 15 and 53 years old, he said.

“We are close to the border, so we have people coming and going every day to work,” he added.

“As you can imagine, patients are going through a difficult period “said Adolphe Edward, executive director of El Centro Regional Medical Center. “It was a serious accident and we are treating them in the emergency room,” he said.

According to Jack Sanchez, member of the California Highway Patrol, speaking to USA today, the SUV involved in the accident admits a maximum of eight passengers.

The accident happened shortly after 6 a.m. on national road 115, near Holtville, about 10 miles north of the US-Mexico border.

The first images of the collision released by local media show a truck fitted into the side of a large burgundy SUV, apparently with a California license plate. The cab of the truck is almost intact, but the other vehicle, standing on all four wheels, appears to be badly damaged.

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