ENCINAL, Texas — The Texas Department of Public Safety provided an update Thursday after four people died and three others were critically wounded in a crash along Interstate 35 in Encinal.
“The driver suspected of human smuggling evaded law enforcement & crashed into a commercial vehicle,” DPS initially said.
In the update, DPS said a Jeep SUV was “evading” the United States Border Patrol on Interstate 35.
“The Jeep took exit 38 at a high rate of speed losing control and rear ending a parked semi-trailer,” DPS said.
Four passengers were pronounced dead at the scene. The driver and two additional passengers were taken to a hospital for treatment.
DPS did not yet release names, saying notifications to families were still pending. DPS said two of the crash victims who died were from Guatemala, one was from Mexico, and one was unknown.
Among the crash survivors, DPS said one was from Guatemala, and one was from Mexico. The driver, critically injured, was from the United States.
Encinal is roughly 40 miles north of Laredo.
The incident comes just days after 53 smuggled migrants were found dead inside a tractor-trailer in San Antonio.
