Eight people were killed after a driver suspected of human smuggling tried to evade authorities and crashed head-on into another vehicle, the Texas Department of Public Safety said Wednesday.
The crash occurred around 6:30 a.m. on U.S. Highway 57 near Batesville, about 83 miles southwest of San Antonio.
The driver, who was in a Honda, had evaded authorities from the Zavala County Sheriff’s Office and “passed an 18-wheeler in a no-passing zone,” Chris Olivarez, a spokesperson with the Texas Department of Public Safety, said in a post on X.
The driver crashed head-on into a Chevrolet SUV, causing the vehicle to burst into flames, Olivarez said. Photos released by the agency showed both vehicles completely mangled with debris scattered across the highway.
Six people were in the Honda, Olivarez said. Two people from Georgia were in the Chevrolet SUV. Everyone was killed, according to officials.
Several of the people in the Honda were from Honduras, Olivarez said.
Names are being withheld until family members can be noticed, authorities said. The crash remains under investigation.
Last year, one person was killed and 11 others were hospitalized in La Joya, about 5 miles from the Mexico border, when the driver evaded law enforcement and disregarded a red light. Authorities suspected the case involved human smuggling because of the number of people involved.
A similar crash occurred in Encinal, Texas, last year when four migrants were killed and two others injured when a vehicle carrying the migrants crashed with a TNI Trucking Co. vehicle.
