An overloaded van carrying about 25 passengers has crashed on a remote South Texas highway, killing at least 11 people and injuring more than a dozen others, authorities said.
The crash happened shortly after 4 pm [local time] on Wednesday on US 281 in Encino, Texas, about 50 miles north of McAllen.
Brooks County Sheriff Urbino Martinez said the van, designed to hold 15 passengers, was top-heavy and tipped over when the driver lost control on a curve.
Police said the driver was going too fast and took a curve too fast causing the crash.
#BREAKING - 11 people confirmed dead, others with injuries - all in one passenger van with 24 people. Police say the driver going too fast on 281 in Encino - 20 miles south of Falfurrias - took a curve too fast. Van NOT being chased. More details to come. pic.twitter.com/9MApYJjFyk
— Paul Mueller (@RealPaulMueller) August 4, 2021
{5:36PM Wednesday} ***TRAFFIC ALERT: US 281 northbound in the Encino area is closed due to a fatal accident. If you have plans to travel to Houston, San Antonio, or Corpus Christi, please be aware that traffic is being diverted to US 77 via eastbound TX 186. pic.twitter.com/IPVlOYXADb
— Andrew Chung (@KRGV_Andrew) August 4, 2021
Van was carrying migrants?
Martinez said he believed most of the passengers were migrants.
Sergeant Nathan Brandley of the Texas Department of Public Safety put the immediate death toll at 11 with more than a dozen others injured.
Encino is a community of about 140 residents about 3.22 km south of the Falfurrias Border Patrol checkpoint.