SUV full of immigrants fled police for almost ten minutes before flipping.
By Raif Karerat
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Six people were killed when a sport utility vehicle believed to be carrying 15 immigrants flipped and crashed southwest of Houston early Thursday, said Texas officials, who are trying to determine whether human trafficking was to blame.
Police officials in Edna, Tex., said officers attempted to stop a 2003 Ford Explorer for a moving violation around 1:30 a.m. when the driver sped away.
The chase, lasting nearly 10 minutes, came to an abrupt end on U.S. 59 when the driver lost control of the SUV, ran off the road, and flipped multiple times, reported the Houston Chronicle.
Four people were pronounced dead at the scene, and two others who were airlifted to a hospital in Houston later died; one person remained in the hospital on Thursday, said Edna Police Chief Clinton Wooldridge.
Several passengers attempted to flee on foot but were apprehended and taken into custody, reported the New York Times. Eight people were treated for injuries and turned over to federal immigration officials.
Some passengers were identified as being from Honduras and Guatemala, Chief Wooldridge said, but officials have not yet determined whether the victims were undocumented immigrants.
“Something this tragic happens very seldomly, thank God,†Chief Wooldridge said. But he added that undocumented immigrants “bailing out of their vehicles and running off into the pastures†happens frequently in that part of Texas.