Thread: UT: Van loaded with suspected undocumented immigrants crashe

Van loaded with suspected undocumented immigrants crashes, one dead
By Melinda Rogers
The Salt Lake Tribune
Article Last Updated: 11/28/2007 05:00:33 PM MST


Posted: 10:02 AM- A minivan believed to be carrying undocumented immigrants rolled on Interstate 15 early Wednesday in southwest Utah, killing one person.
The van was traveling northbound near Paragonah in Iron County when it flipped over and landed in the middle of the roadway at about 5:30 a.m., said Utah Highway Patrol spokesman Cameron Roden.
Six to eight passengers fled the vehicle and scattered in several directions, leading authorities to believe they were undocumented immigrants, Roden said. One person who didn't immediately exit the vehicle died after a semi struck the minivan before authorities could remove the vehicle from the road.
Six to eight passengers fled from this vehicle after it crashed Wednesday, killing one of the occupants. (Utah Department of Public Safety)The victim could not be immediately identified because there was no identification in the minivan, he said. The driver of the semi wasn't injured.
Roden said he's not sure if other passengers in the minivan were injured or if they are related to the driver who died. Police are searching for those who fled the accident scene.

http://www.sltrib.com/ci_7580485?source=rss

This is just insane! Someone died and everyone ran off.

Just another example of "good moral character". One way to get out of paying the coyote.

Dixie

Authorities searching for suspected undocumented immigrants who fled van crash
By Melinda Rogers
The Salt Lake Tribune
Article Last Updated: 11/29/2007 06:31:54 AM MST


Authorities in Iron County are searching for passengers who fled the scene of an accident after a minivan believed to be carrying undocumented immigrants rolled on Interstate 15, killing one person and possibly injuring others.
The van was traveling north on I-15 near Paragonah when it flipped twice and landed in the middle of the roadway at about 5:30 a.m., said Utah Highway Patrol spokesman Cameron Roden.
It appears the driver of the van may have fallen asleep, he said.
Six to eight passengers fled the vehicle and scattered in several directions, leading authorities to believe they were undocumented immigrants, Roden said Wednesday.
One girl, 16-year-old Brenda Veronica Martinez, remained in the van. As it sat damaged in a northbound lane, apparently without working lights, a semitrailer collided with it.
Martinez was thrown from the van. It was unclear if she died in the initial crash or in the collision, Roden said.
The truck driver was injured.
Troopers identified Martinez after finding a cell phone in the maroon Toyota Sienna minivan.
A Spanish speaking officer from Cedar City made contact with her father in El Salvador, Roden said. The man said his daughter had been living in Los Angeles and might have been in the process of moving to Denver. The van was registered in California.
Witnesses reported seeing six to eight people running from the vehicle after the crash, Roden said.
Troopers were searching in Paragonah and a dairy near the crash site. It's possible they received another ride, Roden said.
A resident in the area told police late Wednesday that two people had come to his door earlier and he took them to a nearby dairy, Roden said.
The pair may have gone home with one of the workers. Investigators were at the dairy Wednesday night trying to find them, Roden said.
Roden said he is not sure if other passengers in the minivan were injured or if they are related to the woman who was killed. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said Wednesday it was assisting in the investigation.
If police determine the van's passengers were undocumented immigrants, Wednesday's incident adds to a string of rollovers resulting in the deaths of immigrants.
In April, Guatemala native Rigoberto Salas-Lopez received a federal charge of transporting illegal aliens resulting in death after the SUV he was driving in southeastern Utah rolled and killed eight people.
Salas-Lopez told ICE investigators that a man in Phoenix gave him $1,000 plus $500 in gas money to drive three Mexican and 11 Guatemalan immigrants from Arizona to St. Louis.
Five people also died in August after a Suburban carrying 11 people, mostly undocumented immigrants, flipped off Interstate 70, about 15 miles east of Green River.
In October 2005, two people died when a northbound Dodge Caravan loaded with 16 undocumented immigrants overturned on U.S. Highway 191 south of Moab.

http://www.sltrib.com/ci_7587384?source=rss