Two people killed after being thrown from van in Sampson County

A spokesman for the State Highway Patrol said a 1998 Ford Econoline 350 van was driving on State Road 1004, near Garland, when the driver wasn't able to stay in his lane approaching a curve.

The van crossed the center line, ran off the road and hit a ditch. After impact, the van rolled, and two of the eight people inside the van were thrown from the vehicle.

"From what we could tell, no one in the vehicle was restrained," said SHP Trooper Steven Naylor.

The front seat driver and passenger were the two ejected from the van. Both died at the scene of the crash.

"We don't think they were going at a very high rate of speed," said Naylor. "I don't think speed was a factor in the collision."

The occupants inside the car were migrant workers from Honduras and Mexico and do not speak English. Naylor said it appeared the van's passengers were on the way to do farm work.

"They live here — some of them for different amounts of time," said Naylor.

Four men went to a local hospital following the crash, and two were treated on the scene. Troopers said they are in the process of speaking to the van's occupants to identify the two people killed.

The van's registration was not real, SHP said, and the VIN came back to an address in Asheboro.

"We don't have any explanation or reasoning for that," said Naylor.

Because the men who died have not yet been identified, the Highway Patrol has been unable to notify their next of kin. Once their names are known, troopers will contact Honduran and Mexican consulates to help find those families.