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Mariano Castillo
Express-News Border Bureau

LAREDO — One woman died and at least 20 others were injured after a passenger van stuffed with up to 60 undocumented immigrants rolled over on a Zapata County road.

Exact numbers on how many passengers were crammed into the 1998 Chevrolet van varied. A Department of Public Safety report stated 21 people were in the cargo van, while a statement released by the Mexican Consulate in Laredo said 60 people were inside the van.

Inez Gomez, 23, was killed in the wreck. Her nationality was unknown.

The confusion stemmed in part from the chaotic scene Wednesday on FM 2687, about 12 miles east of U.S. 83, where ambulances, Border Patrol and sheriff's vehicles were all used to transport the injured to hospitals in Laredo, Rio Grande City and McAllen.

The driver, Juan Carlos Perez of Sebastian, fled the scene and was stopped soon after by deputies inside another car, officials said. Perez was arrested and charged with manslaughter and human smuggling.

Zapata County Sheriff Sigifredo Gonzalez was at the scene and said he counted at least 52 people.

"I have not seen anything like that in my 30-year career," he said. "So many people, so many injured, I had never seen anything like that."

The van was speeding when the rear left tire blew out, causing the van to roll several times into the brush, the DPS report stated.

The Mexican Consulate identified 13 of the passengers as Mexicans, and said that two remained in critical condition.

Others identified hometowns in Guatemala and Brazil, Gonzalez said.

The event triggered an emergency contingency plan in Laredo called "Operation Rio," where hospitals called in all available resources for mass triage, Laredo Fire Department spokesman Eloy Vega said.

Most of the passengers were ejected from the van, causing head and chest injuries and fractures, he said.

The Border Patrol helped transport the injured and used a helicopter to find survivors who fled, spokeswoman Sara Melendez said.

Some of the immigrants told Gonzalez they didn't know where they started their journey, only that they had been picked up off the side of a highway.

Also on Thursday, Mexican consular officials in McAllen said that five immigrants found drowned on the Rio Grande bank in Starr County this week were believed to be Guatemalan because of the currency found in their pockets.