An overloaded van carrying 29 migrants crashed Wednesday on a remote South Texas highway, killing at least 10 people, including the driver, and injuring 20 others, authorities said. 

What You Need To Know

  • A van carrying 29 migrants crashed Wednesday on a remote South Texas highway, killing at least 10 people, including the driver, and injuring 20 others

  • The crash happened shortly after 4 p.m. Wednesday on U.S. 281 in Encino, Texas, about 50 miles north of McAllen

  • The sheriff said he believed all of the passengers were migrants, and said the 20 who survived the initial crash all have serious to critical injuries

  • The van was only designed to hold 15 people

The crash happened shortly after 4 p.m. on U.S. 281 in Encino, Texas, about 50 miles north of McAllen. Sgt. Nathan Brandley of the Texas Department of Public Safety says the van, designed to hold 15 passengers, was speeding as the driver tried to veer off the highway onto Business Route 281. He lost control of the top-heavy van, which slammed into a metal utility pole and a stop sign.

The sheriff said he believed all of the passengers were migrants. Brandley said the death toll was initially announced as 11 but was later revised. He also said the 20 who survived the initial crash all have serious to critical injuries.

The identities of the 30 in the van were being withheld until relatives can be notified, Brandley said. No information about the van, including where it was registered or who owned it, was immediately released.

Encino is a community of about 140 residents about 2 miles south of the Falfurrias Border Patrol checkpoint.

A surge in migrants crossing the border illegally has brought about an uptick in the number of crashes involving vehicles jammed with migrants who pay large amounts to be smuggled into the country. The Dallas Morning News has reported that the recruitment of young drivers for the smuggling runs, combined with excessive speed and reckless driving by those youths, have led to horrific crashes.

One of the deadliest crashes came on March 3, when 13 people were killed when a semitrailer truck slammed into a sport utility vehicle containing 25 migrants near Holtville, California, about 125 miles east of San Diego.

On March 17, eight migrants were killed when the pickup truck carrying them crashed into another truck while being pursued by police nearly 30 miles north of the border city of Del Rio, Texas. The driver faces a possible life sentence after pleading guilty to multiple federal charges on May 24. No sentencing date has been set.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.