Migrants in US Illegally Among 8 Killed in Crash

Cause of horrific head-on crash is unclear
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Sep 21, 2018 12:21 AM CDT
Migrants in US Illegally Among 8 Killed in Crash
The site of a previous deadly crash on Route 79.   (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Eight people, including four immigrants in the US illegally, were killed in a head-on crash on an Arizona highway, authorities said Thursday. The crash occurred late Wednesday in a rural part of the state more than 120 miles north of the Mexico border. The Arizona Department of Public Safety declined to say whether an SUV involved in the collision was being used as part of a smuggling operation or may have been connected to a government immigration facility in nearby Florence, the AP reports. However, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency said the immigrants killed were not detainees. Investigators don't know the cause of the crash on State Route 79.

Officials say the SUV's driver and front-seat passenger were American citizens, but seven others in the vehicle were immigrants in the country illegally. The driver, front-seat passenger, and four immigrants in the SUV were killed. Three other immigrants were taken to hospitals. The driver and front-seat passenger in the other vehicle also were killed. Arizona has been the scene of a number of fatal crashes involving immigrants who were being smuggled, including one near the border nearly a decade ago in which 10 people died after an SUV rolled over on a highway. In Texas, five people were killed in June when an SUV carrying a dozen immigrants flipped while fleeing agents.

(More Arizona stories.)

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