A horse trailer with at least 18 illegal immigrants in it crashed in California near the border with Mexico over the weekend.
The horse trailer crashed on I-8 about 55 miles east of San Diego, reported The Times of San Diego.
There were 18 illegal immigrants inside the trailer and one driver, according to a preliminary count.
Six of the 19 people were rushed to hospitals in the area with serious injuries.
The crash occurred around 11:50 a.m. on Saturday morning about 15 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border.
Some illegal immigrants inside the trailer fled after the crash, passing motorists told 911, although most were ultimately caught by Border Patrol.
No horses were inside.
Female pickup driver carrying '18 undocumented migrants' in horse trailer flips over after fishtailing on highway https://t.co/Os5TwnXCei
— Daily Mail US (@DailyMail) April 8, 2018
It’s unclear if the driver was apprehended, the Border Patrol told the San Diego Union-Tribune.
It’s also not clear where the group made illegal entry into the country. They were all identified as Mexican nationals, reported KGTV.
Crashes around the border aren’t uncommon as vehicles loaded with illegal immigrants are sometimes spotted by the authorities and dangerously speed up in an attempt to evade them. One such accident, which left a number of illegal immigrants dead, was detailed in the book “Crossing Over” by Ruben Martinez.
A woman who was driving behind the horse trailer over the weekend told California Highway Patrol agents that the two-axle, four-horse trailer being hauled by the pickup began to fishtail; the driver was unable to maintain control and the truck drifted off the freeway; the trailer then separated from the truck and tipped onto its right side.
San Diego receives additional $251M in border fence funding https://t.co/nWJZKL34HM pic.twitter.com/9rM1Prp6Tu
— San Diego Union-Tribune (@sdut) April 1, 2018
People attempting to cross into the United States illegally often use the area east of San Diego after a border wall was built at the city.
The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that reinforced fences now span 46 miles of the 60-mile border between San Diego County and Mexico.
Before the start of the fence, which was 14 miles long, immigrants streamed across the border in and near San Diego, Border Patrol agent Jim Henry told NPR. “It was an area that was out of control,” he said. “There were over 100,000 aliens crossing through this area a year.” The border is now triple-fenced in some parts.
“Here in San Diego, we have proven that the border infrastructure system does indeed work,” Henry said. “It is highly effective.”.
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