At least 1 dead, several injured in I-10 rollover near Benson
By Dale Quinn
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 04.07.2008
At least one person was killed and more than a dozen were injured when a van loaded with suspected illegal entrants rolled on Interstate 10 near Benson.

The van was westbound on I-10 when it rolled just after 5 a.m. near Empirita Road at milepost 292, about 15 miles west of Benson, said Officer Quent Mehr, a Department of Public Safety spokesman. Seventeen people were taken Tucson hospitals, Mehr said, and Border Patrol officials apprehended several people who had fled the scene of the crash.
As many as 30 people may have been in the van, officials said.
Eight agencies responded to the crash, including DPS, the Tucson Fire Department and Border Patrol. Helicopters scoured the nearby desert looking for additional passengers who may have left the scene.
An e-mail from DPS Lt. James Warriner said three people were killed, but Mehr, who was at the scene, could not confirm that.
Border Patrol agents were conducting traffic stops in the area early Monday when they saw van, which they thought looked suspicious, Mehr said.

They did not pursue the van, but as they looked for it on I-10 they found it had rolled off the north side of the interstate, Mehr said.
The westbound lanes of I-10 remained open, but the offramp at Empirita Road was closed.

Mehr could not confirm whether the illegal entrants were being smuggled across the state or if they were day laborers on their way to work.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were beginning to interview the illegal entrants Monday morning, spokesman Vincent Picard said. Investigators would talk with the people in the hospital to reconstruct who the people were and where they were going, he said.

Contact reporter Dale Quinn at 629-9412 or dquinn@azstarnet.com.
http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/hourlyupdate/233244.php