8 Dead In Sonoita Rollover
UPDATED: 7:44 am MST June 8, 2009
SONOITA, Ariz. -- Eight people "stacked like wood" in the back of a sports-utility vehicle were killed when the driver lost control on a remote southeastern Arizona highway, a spokeswoman for the Arizona Department of Public Safety said Sunday.
DPS Officer Joy Craig said at least 27 men and women were in the vehicle traveling on State Route 82 about four miles east of Sonoita when the vehicle rolled for an unknown reason shortly before midnight Saturday. Most of the vehicle's passengers were ejected.Original estimates said 10 people were dead; however, DPS learned that two of the people believed to be dead were in fact hospitalized with life-threatening injuries, the department said in a news release.Authorities said all the victims are believed to be illegal immigrants from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Equador and perhaps Mexico.
"There was no rear seat in the (Ford) Excursion. They stack live people, as many as they can, like stacking wood," Craig said.
Five survivors have been airlifted to a Tucson hospital and seven people were transported to hospitals in Tucson and Sierra Vista.The identities of the driver, passengers and the vehicle's owner are being withheld pending their identification and notification of relatives. Many victims did not have identification, Craig said.The department said the cause of the rollover is under investigation.Santa Cruz County Sheriff Tony Estrada said it was the worst crash with the highest death toll involving illegal immigrants he's ever seen in his jurisdiction.Investigators have not identified the driver, but if he survives, Craig said charges against him would be pending."Basically, this is like a 10-time homicide scene," she said.Craig said the remote area where the accident occurred is a route commonly used by those smuggling illegal immigrants into the United States."We see the people stacked like wood frequently," she said. "If they had had the right number of people in there and they all had their seat belts on, they would have lived."Authorities are looking for anyone else who may be injured, she said.Initially, Craig said there were 22 victims, but several victims fled the accident scene and sought help from businesses in the Sonoita area, saying they had been injured in the wreck.The U.S. Border Patrol has eight men who were treated and released from local hospitals in custody, Border Patrol spokesman Omar Candelaria said.
