Crime
6 migrants dead and 10 others found in 3 human smuggling cases in Texas in 24 hours
Four migrants were killed and three others were injured in a crash after a high-speed chase in Encinal, Texas
July 1, 2022 12:59pm
Updated: July 1, 2022 2:29pm
At least six migrants were killed and ten others have been rescued from human smuggling incidents in Texas in the past 24 hours, authorities reported.
On Thursday, four migrants were killed and three others were injured in a crash after a high-speed chase in Encinal, Texas, about 40 miles north of Laredo.
“A white Jeep SUV was evading United States Border Patrol traveling north," according to a statement from Texas Highway Patrol Sgt. Erick Estrada. As the car attempted to take an exit, it lost control and crashed into a parked semitrailer.
“He was going over 100 mph. I was at 129 and I was barely catching up to them,” said Encinal Police Sergeant William Butterfield, who responded to the incident.
The four migrants were pronounced dead at the scene, Estrada added. The driver remains in critical condition. Two other male passengers were injured and transported to a hospital.
DPS: Human smuggling attempt ends in fatal crash in Encinal, Texas https://t.co/qqXN96dJN5 via @expressnews
— Jessica Vaughan (@JessicaV_CIS) July 1, 2022
Two of the migrants were from Guatemala and another from Mexico. The fourth migrant has yet to be identified. One of the passengers was from Guatemala and the other from Mexico. The driver was American.
“Every day we are seeing anything from one chase to seven chases. We’ve had as many as 15 chases in one day. It’s gotten absolutely ridiculous because when I first started here we would get one a week,” Butterfield added.
On Wednesday, another driver who was evading U.S. Border Patrol lost control of the car near McAllen, Texas, according to Lt. Chris Olivares, a spokesman for the South Texas region of the State Department of Public Safety (DPS).
Four passengers were ejected from the car at the time of the crash. Two men were killed and two others were critically injured.
Eagle Pass agents also foiled a smuggling attempt involving 10 people who were locked inside of a tractor-trailer on Wednesday on I-35.
These latest human smuggling incidents at the border come after 53 migrants were abandoned and left to die inside of a trailer in Texas on Monday, in what officials are calling the deadliest human smuggling incident in recent history.
