Mexican man faces federal charges in Texas crash that killed 6 people

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – The alleged driver in an accident that killed six people this week is being prosecuted at the federal level.

Ivan Dario Puga-Moreno, of Montemorelos, Mexico, is accused of driving an open vehicle in a ditch near Robstown on Wednesday.

Six people were found dead at the scene and nine were taken to hospital with injuries described as serious, according to the US District Attorney's Office for the South Texas District.

The SUV was found in a ditch in a sorghum field.

An investigation revealed that Puga-Moreno was the driver of the vehicle, says a press release issued by the office. A court document says it was trying to smuggle more than a dozen undocumented immigrants.

The US Border Patrol officers arrived at the scene of the accident at about 6:55 am and found about six people in the vehicle. They seemed to be inconsistent. Another affidavit of arrest indicates that seven other persons were found "in or near the vehicle and in need of medical assistance".

Cdr Hooper, Sheriff of Nueces County, said the men were from Mexico, El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala.

Domestic Security officers later spoke to one of the men involved in the accident that occurred in a hospital. The man told them that he and 13 others "had been smuggled by a guide through the brush for about three days," the document says.

The man said that they were later arrested by a man who was driving a Suburban, the document said.

The authorities then contacted a woman who claimed to have been in contact with Puga-Moreno. In a phone call, Puga-Moreno told the woman that he was driving, destroyed the SUV and hit something, the document says.

"He was hiding and had observed the ambulance and the police at the scene of the accident," says the document.

A woman who identified herself as Puga-Moreno's girlfriend was contacted by the authorities. She told the police that Puga-Moreno was an undocumented immigrant.

She told the authorities that Puga-Moreno told her "he was scared and ran out" with four other people, the document said.

Puga-Moreno told him that he had "broken bones and internal bleeding" and that he needed help, the document says.

It is not known where the authorities found Puga-Moreno. He is accused of illegally transporting migrants.

He is scheduled to appear before a federal magistrate in Houston on Monday.