1999 — Dec 4, Illegal worker van hits 18-wheeler on I-40 near Albuquerque, NM — 13

—  13  Daily Sitka Sentinel, AK. “Smuggling Probed After Aliens Killed in Crash.” 12-7-1999, 3.

—  13  Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, TX. “Investigators identify eight crash victims.” 12-12-1999.

—  13  National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.  FARS 1975-2010 Fatality Analysis.

—  13  Santa Fe New Mexican. “Van slams into semi on I-40; 13 killed.” 12-5-1999, p. A1-A2.

 

Narrative Information

 

Dec 5, Santa Fe New Mexican: “Thirteen people died early Saturday when a van suspected of carrying undocumented farm workers slammed into the back of an 18-wheeler on Interstate 40 in the southernmost tip of Santa Fe County.

 

“The eastbound van was carrying 17 people when it hit the truck, which was stopped on the interstate because of another accident east of Edgewood, Santa Fe County Sheriff Ray Sisneros said.  Eleven people died at the scene, Sisneros said.  One died en route to University Hospital in Albuquerque, while another died at the hospital, Sisneros said.  Two people are in critical condition at Presbyterian Hospital in Albuquerque and two are at University Hospital in satisfactory condition, the sheriff said.

 

“The driver of the 18-wheeler was not injured in the crash.

 

“The 1985 Chevrolet conversion van with Kentucky plates had no passenger seats and the passengers were simply on the floor, said tow truck operator Michael Tavenner, who helped pull the bodies out.  “It was gruesome,” Tavenner said.  “They were just packed in there.  When we opened the van, they just fell out.”

 

“Sisneros said the van itself was the biggest indication that it was an operation that transported illegal immigrants.  “All the seats had been gutted so it could carry more people than it was designed to,” he said.  “The driver and the right passenger were the only two seats in there.  Because this is apparently an illegal-alien operation, identification of the victims may take days,” Sisneros said. “The ones who have identification are liable to have false identification.”  He said the two victims in satisfactory condition were able to give their names, but officials still must verify those identities.  “I would be shocked if I had the (IDs) by Monday afternoon,” he said. “It’s going to take time.”‘

 

“The U.S. Border Patrol was called in to assist with identification, said Border Patrol spokesman Doug Hosier.  “We know that the 13 people who were killed were adult males.  We believe they were Mexican nationals from Chiapas and Oaxaca,” Hosier said.  “There was documentation to suggest that in the vehicle.”  Border Patrol agent Garth Rogers said he spoke to one of the survivors and was told the van was headed to Kentucky at the time.  The driver, who is allegedly the immigrant-smuggler, had a list of names and amounts he was being paid for transporting the agricultural workers, Rogers said.  The workers were picked up at Douglas, Ariz., he said, and the driver had a Florida driver’s license.

 

“All but one of the dead were adults, and one was a 16-year-old boy, Rogers said.  Two of the survivors also are 16-year-old boys, he said.  The Border Patrol is working with the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Department and the Mexican Consulate in Albuquerque, he said.  The Mexican Consulate did not return a telephone message left at its Albuquerque office.

 

“The cause of the accident was still under investigation, but Sisneros said officials think the driver fell asleep, causing the van to collide with the 18-wheeler….

 

“Sisneros said there was no indication that the van driver applied his brakes, and he said there was no evidence of alcohol use.  Medical investigators will perform toxicology tests on the driver to determine whether alcohol was in his system.  Sisneros said investigators have not yet determined how fast the van was moving.

 

“Only about a half-mile of 1-40 cuts through Santa Fe County, Sisneros said.  The other wreck, which caused the 18-wheeler to stop, was in another county, he said. State police are investigating that accident.” (Santa Fe New Mexican. “Van slams into semi on I-40; 13 killed.” 12-5-1999, A1-A2.)

 

Dec 7, AP: “Albuquerque, N.M. (AP) — The .U.S. Border Patrol is piecing together the events leading up to the fatal crash of a van smuggling illegal Mexican immigrants to determine how large and sophisticated the smuggling operation is — and how to combat it.  “We have a huge interest in finding out how this occurred in an effort to try and curb some of this,” Garth Rogers, patrol agent in charge of Albuquerque Border Patrol office, said Monday. “This clearly looks like a major case of alien smuggling.”

 

“Thirteen of the 17 people aboard “the van, including the driver, died in Saturday’s crash on Interstate 40 east of Albuquerque.  Police said the van slid on the icy highway and plowed into a tractor-trailer that had stopped because of an earlier accident.  The van’s undocumented workers were from the southern Mexican states of Oaxaca and Chiapas.

 

“Authorities were interviewing the four survivors Monday at University Hospital.  But Santa Fe County Undersheriff Bcnjie Montano said they likely would not reveal much about the smuggling outfit.  “We interviewed the survivors and they didn’t know where they were going,” he said. “They only knew they were going to work.”

 

“The hospital identified three of the patients as Antonio Romero Hernandez, Raquel Sanchez and Domingo Sanchez.  The name of the fourth, a female, had not been confirmed.  All four were listed in satisfactory condition.  Rogers said one survivor is 15, another 16 and two are in their 20s. The patients declined to talk to reporters….

 

“Rogers said the immigrants came through Douglas, Ariz., a thoroughfare known as a gateway into the country for many Mexican smugglers.

 

“One of the survivors told deputies that they were headed to Kentucky.  But Rogers noted that most immigrants smuggled from Oaxaca and Chiapas are transported to orchards in Florida, Georgia or North Carolina.  The van’s driver had a Florida driver’s license.  Tobacco farmers in Kentucky also doubted that the workers were headed to their state.  They say the tobacco season is over.

 

“Rogers said the U.S. Department of Labor also has sent an investigator to determine if any U.S. employers were involved in bringing the workers into the country.  “If an employer was responsible, they could be held culpable” for the crash, Rogers said.  But he said there was no evidence an employer was conducting the smuggling.

 

“The smugglers have little concern for their passengers, Rogers said.  Sometimes they assist workers in finding employment, but the smugglers expect to get paid when the workers find jobs, he said.  “Their main concern is to move as many as possible to where they want to go,” he said.”

(Daily Sitka Sentinel, AK. “Smuggling Probed After Aliens Killed in Crash.” 12-7-1999, 3.)

 

Dec 12, AP: “Albuquerque (AP) Medical investigators have released the names of eight of 13 illegal immigrants killed when the van they were in crashed east of Albuquerque.  The eastbound van plowed into the rear of a tractor-trailer rig that had stopped with its emergency lights flashing on icy Interstate 40 Dec. 4.  The crash, which federal investigators said was likely caused by fatigue and inexperience on the part of the van driver, also injured four other people in the van.

 

“The driver of the van was Chavez, 20, of Live Oak, Fla., authorities said.  He had six-tenths of a mile of visibility before the crash some 30 miles east of Albuquerque, said Larry Yohe, an investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board.  “Unless we get more information on his background, we may never have an exact cause,” Yohe said….” (Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, TX. “Investigators identify eight crash victims.” 12-12-1999.)

 

Sources

 

Daily Sitka Sentinel, AK. “Smuggling Probed After Aliens Killed in Crash.” 12-7-1999, 3. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/daily-sitka-sentinel/1999-12-07/page-3/

 

Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, TX. “Investigators identify eight crash victims.” 12-12-1999. Accessed at: http://lubbockonline.com/stories/121299/reg_121299002.shtml

 

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Partial Data Dump of Crashes Involving 10 or More Fatalities, by Year, Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) 1975-2009 Final and 2010 ARF. Washington, DC: NHTSA, pdf file provided to Wayne Blanchard, 1-26-2012.

 

Santa Fe New Mexican, NM. “Van slams into semi on I-40; 13 killed.” 12-5-1999, p. 1. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/santa-fe-new-mexican/1999-12-05/