SUV Collides with Semi-truck, Leaving 13 Dead and 13 Injured in California's Imperial County

This week, tragedy struck when a semi-truck and an SUV collided, leaving massive fatalities. The incident happened in Imperial County in California, close to the Mexico-US border.

On Tuesday morning, the US sadly lost thirteen people when a semi-truck crashed with an SUV. Thirteen more people were also injured when the semi-truck hauling gravel collided with the vehicle.

The tragic incident occurred in California in Imperial Country near the US-Mexico border. Chief Omar Watson of the California Highway Patrol revealed that the accident happened at around 6:30 a.m.

It occurred around ten miles north of the border at Calexico and one-hundred miles east of San Diego. The Highway Patrol chief

the fatal accident had left a "chaotic" scene.

The maroon Ford Expedition SUV had 25 people in it when the incident happened. The people in the vehicle were said to be aged from as young as fifteen to as old as fifty-three.

The semi-truck was hauling two trailers when it smashed into the vehicle close to Norrish Road on state Route 115. According to Watson, several SUV passengers were thrown out onto the highway in the crash.

Special agents launched a human smuggling investigation from the Department of Homeland Security. In the front of the vehicle sat a driver and one front passenger, but there were no back seats.

It’s believed this left the rest of the passengers without any restraints at the back. Watson revealed that the front passenger seat was cut out so the back seat people could be extricated.

The SUV’s driver, a Mexicali, Mexico man, and eleven other people died at the scene. Twelve other passengers suffered various injuries, including chest and head injuries.

According to the emergency room director for El Centro's Central Regional Medical Center, Judy Cruz, a couple of the victims' injuries were life-threatening. Watson had this to say about the accident:

"At this time it is unknown whether or not the Expedition stopped at the stop sign..."

A 69-year-old El Centro man was the semi-truck driver. He luckily only suffered moderate injuries, and he was taken to Desert Regional Medical Center for some medical treatment.

The people who survived were taken to Brawley, California's Pioneers Memorial Hospital, Palm Springs's Desert Regional Medical Center, and Mexico's El Centro Regional Medical Center.

Sadly, a victim transported to El Centro Regional Medical Center passed on later. When the police arrived, some of the SUV passengers were trying to crawl out of the 1997 Ford Expedition that was crumpled up.

Sadly, these weren’t the only crash victims in recent days as treacherous weather conditions…

Others were also found wandering around the fields. The semi-truck's front end was pushed into the vehicle's left-hand side, and jackknifed behind it were the two empty trailers.

The SUV could safely seat only eight people. Sadly, these weren’t the only crash victims in recent days, as treacherous weather conditions claimed six people in a 133-car pileup on February 11, 2021, in Fort Worth.