Questions linger on how 25 people fit into one SUV in ‘devastating’ California crash

A “devastating” crash that killed 13 people Tuesday morning in Southern California has authorities struggling to answer a number of questions.

A 1997 Ford Expedition carrying 25 people collided with a gravel truck at 6 a.m. on Highway 115 near Holtville in Imperial County, about 10 miles north of the border with Mexico, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Twelve people died at the scene and one died on the way to a hospital, The New York Times reported. At least six more were injured, including the driver of the tractor-trailer.

“It’s a very sad situation,” said Omar Watson, border division chief for the California Highway Patrol, CNN reported. “We owe it to the families of those that were killed and injured as well as the public to conduct a complete and thorough investigation.”

How did 25 people fit in one SUV?

“Obviously, that vehicle is not meant for that many people,” Watson said, USA Today reported. “It’s unfortunate that that number of people were put into that vehicle.”

A Ford Expedition has a maximum legal capacity of seven or eight people, CHP Officer Jake Sanchez told The New York Times.

Watson said the back seats appeared to have been removed to fit in more people, according to USA Today.

“I don’t know if they were cut out or removed, but they were not in the vehicle,” he said, the publication reported.

The lack of seat restraints meant some passengers were thrown from the wreck.

“This was a big vehicle,” said Russ Rader of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, KTTV reported. “But it was still at a big disadvantage in a crash with this gravel truck.”

The SUV, heading west, apparently pulled in front of the north-bound gravel truck at an intersection, The New York Times reported.

“It struck this SUV in a very vulnerable spot, which is in the side,” Rader told KTTV. “When you look at the video, the front end of the truck is still embedded in the side of the Expedition and it just shows just how devastating this crash was.”

Frank Borris, former head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s office of defects investigation, said having that many people in an SUV with a maximum payload of 2,000 pounds would have made the vehicle unstable, The Associated Press reported.

“You’re going to have extended stopping distances, delayed reactions to steering inputs and potential over-reaction to any type of high-speed lane change,” Borris told the publication.

Who are the victims?

The crash took place in Imperial County, a “rich agricultural region” just north of the U.S.-Mexico border, The New York Times reported. About 6,000 farm workers cross the border each year to harvest carrots, lettuce and other crops in nearby Holtville.

But the region’s also known for human smuggling, according to the publication. Authorities are still working to identify the crash victims and determine their status.

“It was an unusual number of people in an SUV, but we don’t know who they were,” Macario Mora, a spokesman for Customs and Border Protection, told USA Today.

The dead range in age from 20 to 55, while the injured range from ages 16 to 65, The New York Times reported.

An almost equal number of those killed were men and women, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Some of the SUV passengers were not carrying identification and authorities are working to identify them, CNN reported.

The 28-year-old driver, a resident of Mexicali, Mexico, died in the crash, USA Today reported.

At least 10 of those killed were Mexican nationals, said Roberto Velasco Álvarez, head of the North America Department for the Mexican Foreign Ministry, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Special agents from Homeland Security Investigations are investigating the possibility the crash involved human smuggling efforts, the Los Angeles Times reported.

On Wednesday, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol said the SUV and another vehicle had entered the United States through a hole in the border wall, The Associated Press reported. It’s believed they were part of a human smuggling operation.

A Chevrolet Suburban that entered with the Ford Expedition later caught fire and was abandoned by the 19 people aboard, Border Patrol officials told the publication.

The Ford Expedition was not being chased or followed by Border Patrol agents at the time of the crash, Mora told the Los Angeles Times.

“There was not a pursuit,” said Arturo Platero, a spokesman for the CHP’s El Centro office, the publication reported.

A ‘chaotic’ crash scene

“Everyone in the vehicle was injured to some extent,” Watson said, calling the crash scene “chaotic,” USA Today reported.

“Some of the walking wounded were able to pull themselves out of the vehicle,” Watson said, The New York Times reported. “Once personnel arrived on the scene, some were wandering around and some of them had already passed away.”

The injured and dying were taken to several area hospitals, some by ambulance and some by helicopter, the Los Angeles Times reported.

“Patients are going through a difficult time as you can imagine,” El Centro Regional Medical Center CEO Adolphe Edward told CNN. “This was a major accident and we are taking care of them in the emergency room department.”

As authorities investigated, Hugo Castro placed crosses by the roadside for the victims, whom he said he did not know, USA Today reported.

“I know they’re human beings who deserve a better opportunity,” Castro said.

This story was originally published March 3, 2021 at 8:37 AM.