For the second time in less than 24 hours, migrants are dead following a crash as smugglers attempted to avoid arrest. Texas Department of Public Safety officials report that four migrants died and two others are in critical condition when a Jeep driven by a suspected human smuggler crashed into a tractor-trailer while fleeing from law enforcement. Officials report the driver is in critical condition (brain dead).
Texas DPS Lt. Chris Olivarez told Breitbart Texas that a Border Patrol agent attempted to stop a suspected human smuggler near Encinal, Texas, on Thursday morning. The driver failed to yield leading to a law enforcement pursuit.
Four migrants died instantly when a suspected human smuggler crashed into a tractor-trailer while attempting to avoid arrest. (Texas Department of Public Safety)
Olivarez said the pursuit ended when the driver of the white Jeep crashed into the rear of a tractor-trailer. It is not known at this time if Border Patrol continued the pursuit or if another agency took over prior to the crash. Breitbart Texas reached out to Laredo Sector Border Patrol officials for additional information. The agency confirmed Border Patrol agents engaged in the traffic stop. The CBP Office of Professional Investigations is investigating the incident.
Texas Department of Public Safety
The results of the devastating crash left four of the passengers dead. Two others and the driver were taken to an area hospital in critical condition.
“The driver is not expected to survive his injuries,” Lt. Ovivarez told Breitbart. “He experienced severe head trauma including exposed brain matter.” Olivarez said a helicopter air ambulance transported the driver to a hospital.
Texas Department of Public Safety
Police found documents in the vehicle identifying one of the migrants as a Venezuelan national. The identities of the others have yet to be established.
This is the second deadly crash in 24 hours involving human smugglers attempting to avoid arrest. On Wednesday afternoon, the driver of a green Ford Expedition lost control and rolled the vehicle after fleeing from La Joya police officers, Breitbart Texas reported. The crash led to the death of two of the migrant passengers. Two other occupants of the vehicle are in the hospital in critical condition.
Two people are dead following a police pursuit involving a human smuggling operation in La Joya, Texas. (Texas Department of Public Safety)
All four of the occupants of the Expedition were foreign nationals illegally present in the United States, Olivarez stated.
On Monday evening, a worker found an abandoned tractor-trailer in San Antonio after migrants locked inside yelled for help. Investigators found more than 60 people inside the trailer. Reports indicate 46 of the migrants died at the scene and seven others succumbed to the damage from the heat and lack of water. Four people are facing charges in connection to what is now considered the nation’s largest death toll from a single smuggling incident.
Photo by Jordan Vonderhaar/Getty Images
During this four-day period, at least 59 migrants died at the hands of human smugglers.