Thread: Van crash in San Bernardino County desert kills five

ASSOCIATED PRESS

7:11 p.m. August 1, 2005

LUDLOW – A van carrying 20 people careened out of control on a desert highway Monday and rolled over several times, killing five and injuring 15, the California Highway Patrol said.

The white Dodge van drifted into the center divider, and the driver made a hard right turn to return to the Interstate 40 traffic lanes, causing the van to roll over several times, CHP Officer Todd Weichers said.

People were hurled from the van before the crumpled wreck came to a stop in a patch of desert just after 5 a.m. There were only two seats in the van – one for the driver and the other for a passenger.

"No one else had seat belts or were properly secured," he said. "No one except the driver had documentation, so I'm not sure if the victims were migrant farm laborers or illegal aliens."

The driver, who was from Phoenix, and four others including a 15-year-old were dead, said CHP Capt. Tom McCreary.

Fifteen were injured, eight of them critically, Lt. Oscar Medellin said.

The most seriously injured were flown by six helicopters to hospitals in California and Nevada, and the rest were taken by ambulance, he said.

A 13-year-old girl was in serious condition, and an 18-year-old man and two others were in critical condition, authorities said.

The names of victims weren't released.

Authorities were trying to determine if the van could have been smuggling migrant workers across the country.

In June, a van carrying 20 people skidded and overturned on Interstate 70 in Columbia, Mo., killing five of the passengers. Authorities said the van was apparently carrying migrant workers from Los Angeles to destinations like New York, Maryland and North Carolina.

Four months earlier, a truck carrying 16 migrant workers from Mexico crashed on Interstate 70, about 40 miles east of Columbia. One man was killed and four seriously injured in that accident.

The most seriously injured were flown by six helicopters to hospitals in California and Nevada,

Your tax dollars at work supporting George Bush's open borders policy.

Coming Soon to a Neighborhood or Interstate Near You!!