Thread: OK: 7 Killed In I-40 Crash Near Elk City

MW wrote:

It's sort of strange that The Associated Press reported the victims in Pa. as illegal immigrants, but than on the very next day reported those in the Ok. accident as adult residents of Mexico. What's up with that - can't the AP stay consistent in their reporting?

That is unsettling MW, and makes a person wonder what is going on because good reporting is consistently sticking to the facts and making the updated article even more informative for the readers than the orignal article.

I believe it depends on who writes the article. Some AP stories call illegal aliens just that while the vast majority label them "undocumented immigrants".

Yeah, I call it poop on my shoe, THEY call it "mobile fertilizer". ToMAYto, ToMAHto..................

Originally Posted by JadedBaztard

Yeah, I call it poop on my shoe, THEY call it "mobile fertilizer". ToMAYto, ToMAHto..................

Jaded... you always have the best lines

Originally Posted by BetsyRoss

This reminds me of the crash on the highway that goes through my town that killed 4. I'm told they pay no attention to weather reports.

Actually many do, the worse the weather the less chance they have of being pulled over, most officers don't bother with minor offences during bad weather, not only do they not want to get out in the cold but it is more dangerous on the highway for them to be standing out there.
Out where I live during rain or bad weather the Border Patrol check points are shut down due to some request from DOT, all the smugglers know this and wait for rainy days to go through.

Very good point Mountain Dog, and it makes sense as well.

The doors at pre-schools are better watched than our border.

Dixie

Just in case there was doubt.................

http://www.koco.com/news/10760911/detail.html

Elk City Crash Victims Part Of Illegal Smuggling Operation

POSTED: 10:41 am CST January 16, 2007
UPDATED: 10:50 am CST January 16, 2007

OKLAHOMA CITY -- The passengers in a minivan that crashed on a slick Oklahoma interstate during a winter storm, killing seven, were illegal immigrants being smuggled to North Carolina, a federal immigration officer confirmed Tuesday.

"This was a smuggling vehicle," said Carl Rusnok, a spokesman for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Dallas office. "These people were being smuggled and transported illegally."

"The question now is whether there is a larger smuggling operation behind this particular vehicle," he said.

Seven people, including the driver, died Sunday when the 1998 Chevrolet Astro van hit a patch of ice along Interstate 40, slid across the center median and slammed into an oncoming tractor-trailer. The crash happened about 3:50 a.m., when there was limited visibility and freezing rain in the area.

The van was heading from Nogales, Ariz., to North Carolina, along what Rusnok described as a common smuggling route.

The Oklahoma Highway Patrol has not released the names of those killed in the crash.

Five other passengers were transported to the Great Plains Regional Medical Center in Elk City. At least one of the survivors was released and taken into federal custody, Rusnok said.

Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press.

Same article with added tidbits in bold

http://www.newsok.com/article/2999933

By Ron Jackson
Staff Writer
ELK CITY — Riders in a minivan that crashed during the recent ice storm — a wreck that killed seven people — were illegal immigrants from Mexico being taken to North Carolina, an immigration official confirmed Tuesday.

"This was a smuggling operation,” said Carl Rusnok, a spokesman for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's regional office in Dallas. "Right now, we're in the process of determining whether or not this was part of a bigger smuggling ring.”

Six passengers and the driver were killed about 3:50 a.m. Sunday after the van slid across the median and spun into an oncoming tractor-trailer going west on Interstate 40 near Elk City. All seven victims were thrown from the vehicle.

Driver Miguel Marquez-Vargas, 32, and Francisco Marquez-Vargas, 19, of Acaxochitlan, Mexico, were among those found dead at the scene. The Oklahoma Highway Patrol is withholding the names of the five other victims until next of kin can be notified — a process that "could take weeks,” patrol Lt. Pete Norwood said.

Eleven of the van's 12 occupants have been identified, Rusnok said.

Truck driver Donald Ray Reeves, 54, of Midwest City was unharmed.

Agents later learned the occupants of the van were headed for Durham, N.C., presumably to find work.

Agents were notified of the possible smuggling operation by Oklahoma troopers roughly three hours after the wreck, Rusnok said.

At least one survivor — Pedro Valdez, 56, of Mexico — was taken into custody by federal agents Sunday after being released from the Great Plains Medical Center in Elk City. He was held at the Beckham County jail in Sayre, where Rusnok said he awaits deportation.

"If it is determined that he has no criminal history in the United States, then I would imagine he'll be sent back to Mexico right away,” Rusnok said.

Two other survivors — Mexican nationals Sergio Yanez-Martinez and Mitxi Vasquez — were released from the hospital Monday, Great Plains spokesman Stephen Ryhmer said. Their whereabouts are unknown.

Gaudencio P. Perez, 17, of Mexico and Eurencio V. Gonzales, 20, of Durham, N.C., remained in the hospital with injuries.

Both have been identified as Mexican nationals.

Their whereabouts are unknown.

Un-freaking-believable! ICE KNEW THESE PEOPLE WERE ILLEGAL AND LET THEM WALK OUT OF THE HOSPITAL LEAVING TAXPAYERS TO PICK UP THE TAB.