Ten people are dead after an overloaded van crashed on a remote south Texas highway.
The van was carrying 29 migrants when it crashed just after 4pm on Wednesday on Highway 281 in Encino, a small community about 50 miles north of McAllen.
The driver is among the dead and about 20 other passengers were injured, all of them seriously or critically.
Brooks County Sheriff Urbino Martinez said the van was designed to hold just 15 passengers and that it was speeding and top-heavy when the driver lost control and it tipped over.
Sheriff Martinez said the van was not being pursued by police.
The victims have not been identified because police are still trying to inform their families.
No information has been released about the van, such as who owns it.
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Encino is about 20 miles south of the Falfurrias Border Patrol checkpoint.
According to reports in The Dallas Morning News, young people are often recruited to drive vehicles crowded with migrants who have paid to be smuggled into the US.
Victor Manjarrez Jr, director of the Center for Law and Human Behavior at the University of Texas at El Paso, told the newspaper that criminal groups recruit drivers from Texan cities and from parts of Latin America.
He said the drivers are often seeking safe passage themselves and are offered a discount if they agree to drive.
“They’re told: ‘If you’re caught, it’ll go bad for you’,” he added.
But their young age, bad driving and speeding have already led to crashes.
Thirteen people died in March when a semi-trailer truck hit a sport utility vehicle with 25 migrants in California.
Just a few weeks later, eight migrants died when their truck crashed into another truck while it was chased by police nearly 30 miles north of the border city of Del Rio in Texas.
A pilot on board the cargo ship that crashed into the Baltimore bridge tried to swing it clear of a collision by dropping its port anchor to pivot it away, authorities said.
The pilot and a second on board at the time of collision will be interviewed by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) today.
The US Coast Guard also confirmed that the container ship’s engines had undergone routine maintenance while in the Baltimore port.
Information recovered from the ship’s voyage data recorder (VDR) showed power failed for just one minute and three seconds as it approached the structure, but that was enough for the collision to become seemingly unavoidable .
The recorder, which officials noted is “very basic” when compared to those on aircraft, stopped picking up sensor data during the outage but did record audio of the pilot giving steering commands and rudder orders and had enough information to create a timeline leading up to impact:
00:39:00 VDR recorded ship’s departure from Seagirt Marine Terminal 01:07 ship had entered the Fort McHenry Channel 01:24 ship was on a heading underway on a true heading of approx 141 degrees at a speed of 8 knots / 9.2mph 01:24:59 Numerous audible alarms recorded on ships bridge audio – at same time, the VDR stopped recording sensor data, but continued to record audio using redundant power source 01:26:02 VDR sensor data recording resumed. Steering commands and rudder orders were recorded on the audio during this time 01:26:39 Pilot made general VHF call for tugs in the vicinity to assist. At the same time, the power of association dispatcher phoned the Maryland Transport Authority (MDTA) duty officer regarding the blackout 01:27:04 Pilot ordered the DALI to drop the port anchor and ordered additional steering commands 01:27:25 Pilot issued a radio call over the VHF radio reporting the DALI had lost all power and was heading towards the bridge. Around this time MDTA data shows the following also occurred: the duty officer radioed to their units that were already on scene due to construction on the bridge – one on each side of the bridge – and ordered them to close the traffic on the bridge. All lanes were then shut down by MDTA 01:29:00 ship’s speed was just under 7 knots / 8pmh and from 0129:00 to 01:29:33 the ship’s audio recorded the collision of the bridge 01:29:39 Pilot reported the bridge down over the audio to the coast guard
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An official also said that the Key Bridge was fracture-critical, which means “if a member fails that would likely cause a portion of, or the entire bridge, to collapse, there’s no redundancy”.
NTSB board chair Jennifer Homendy also noted that according to the Federal Highway Administration, there are close to 17,500 fracture-critical bridges in the US.
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She added: “It’s pretty devastating, certainly, seeing not just what’s going on with the cargo containers, but just looking at what was a bridge span – three bridge spans that is pretty much gone. It’s just utter devastation.”
The men recovered have been identified as Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes, 35, who was from Mexico and lived in Baltimore, and Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera, 26, who was from Guatemala and lived in Dundalk, Maryland.
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Earlier on Wednesday, the first two missing construction workers were named as Miguel Luna, a 49-year-old from El Salvador, and Maynard Sandoval, a 37-year-old father-of-two. Two other people are also still missing – all are presumed dead.
The recovery mission is now a salvage operation as it is no longer safe for divers to navigate or operate around the debris and concrete in the port.
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3:00
Baltimore: Second missing man named
The victims, who were from Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala, were part of a crew filling potholes on the bridge’s road surface at the time of the collapse.
The Key Bridge carried the Interstate 695 highway over the Patapsco River southeast of the Baltimore metropolitan area.
US President Joe Biden has promised that he will visit Baltimore “as soon as possible”, adding that the federal government will cover the “full cost” of rebuilding the bridge – which experts say could be over $600m (£474m).
Its main section spanned 1,200 feet and was one of the longest continuous truss bridges in the world upon its completion, according to the National Steel Bridge Alliance.
The Dali was previously involved in a minor incident when it hit a quay at the Port of Antwerp in Belgium in 2016, where it was damaged, according to Vessel Finder and maritime accident site Shipwrecklog.
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Audio has emerged of a first responder call as officials halted traffic on both sides of the Francis Scott Key Bridge moments before it collapsed.
The cargo ship had issued a mayday call to alert authorities it had lost power before it collided with the Baltimore bridge on Tuesday morning.
Following the call, Maryland Transportation Authority Police Dispatch and Response officials acted swiftly, shutting down the north and south sides of the bridge.
In the audio, one official instructs: “Hold all traffic on the Key Bridge… There’s a ship approaching that just lost their steering so until we get that under control, we’ve got to stop all traffic.
“Make sure no one’s on the bridge right now. There’s a crew up there… You might want to notify the foreman to see if we can get them off the bridge temporarily.”
Another responds saying he would “grab the workers” but it was too late.
A second later, a voice is heard saying: “The whole bridge just fell down. Start, start whoever… everybody. The whole bridge just collapsed.”
In other developments, investigators at the National Safety Transportation Board have confirmed that the cargo ship’s data recorder has now been recovered – and they are examining whether contaminated fuel played a role in the crash.
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0:30
New angle shows moment bridge hit
The Dali ship ploughed into one of the bridge’s supports and, in an instant, the 1.6-mile-long structure had fallen into the Patapsco River, along with vehicles and workers who were on it at the time.
Six workers missing after the collapse are presumed dead, the executive vice president of Brawner Builders has confirmed.
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Officials say the rescue mission for the group has now become a recovery operation.
It comes as Miguel Luna, from El Salvador, was named as one of the six people on the Francis Scott Key Bridge when it collapsed.
All 22 crew members on board the ship, including the two pilots, have been accounted for and there were no reports of injuries.
Maryland Governor Wes Moore said he spoke to the families of the victims, assuring them since the mission had transitioned from search and rescue to recovery he would “put every possible resource to bring [them] a sense of closure”.
He praised the “true heroism” of the first responders who “saved countless lives that night”.
Mr Moore also said he was “overwhelmed” by the amount of support from both the Democratic and Republican parties as he stressed the importance of getting the bridge rebuilt.
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1:20
‘True accountability’ for Baltimore bridge collapse
Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden has promised that he will visit Baltimore “as soon as possible”, adding that the federal government will cover the “full cost” of rebuilding the bridge – which experts say could be over $600m (£474m).
He told reporters: “Everything so far indicates that this was a terrible accident. At this time we have no other indication, no other reason to believe there’s any intentional act here.
“Personnel on board the ship were able to alert the Maryland Department of Transportation that they had lost control of their vessel.”
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0:59
Timeline of Baltimore bridge collapse
Mr Biden added that this meant local authorities were able to close the bridge before it was struck, which “undoubtedly saved lives”.
He continued: “Our prayers are with everyone involved in this terrible accident and all the families [affected], especially those waiting for news of their loved one right now. I know every minute in that circumstance feels like a lifetime.”
The Key Bridge carries the Interstate 695 highway over the Patapsco River southeast of the Baltimore metropolitan area.
Its main section spans 1,200 feet and was one of the longest continuous truss bridges in the world upon its completion, according to the National Steel Bridge Alliance.
The Dali was previously involved in a minor incident when it hit a quay at the Port of Antwerp in Belgium in 2016, where it was damaged, according to Vessel Finder and maritime accident site Shipwrecklog.
Audio has emerged of a first responder call as officials halted traffic on both sides of the Francis Scott Key Bridge moments before it collapsed.
The cargo ship had issued a mayday call to alert authorities it had lost power before it collided with the Baltimore bridge on Tuesday morning.
Following the call, Maryland Transportation Authority Police Dispatch and Response officials acted swiftly, shutting down the north and south sides of the bridge.
In the audio, one official instructs: “Hold all traffic on the Key Bridge… There’s a ship approaching that just lost their steering so until we get that under control, we’ve got to stop all traffic.
“Make sure no one’s on the bridge right now. There’s a crew up there… You might want to notify the foreman to see if we can get them off the bridge temporarily.”
Another responds saying he would “grab the workers” but it was too late.
A second later, a voice is heard saying: “The whole bridge just fell down. Start, start whoever… everybody. The whole bridge just collapsed.”
In other developments, investigators at the National Safety Transportation Board have confirmed that the cargo ship’s data recorder has now been recovered – and they are examining whether contaminated fuel played a role in the crash.
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Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
0:30
New angle shows moment bridge hit
The Dali ship ploughed into one of the bridge’s supports and, in an instant, the 1.6-mile-long structure had fallen into the Patapsco River, along with vehicles and workers who were on it at the time.
Six workers missing after the collapse are presumed dead, the executive vice president of Brawner Builders has confirmed.
Officials say the rescue mission for the group has now become a recovery operation.
It comes as Miguel Luna, from El Salvador, was named as one of the six people on the Francis Scott Key Bridge when it collapsed.
All 22 crew members on board the ship, including the two pilots, have been accounted for and there were no reports of injuries.
Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden has promised that he will visit Baltimore “as soon as possible”, adding that the federal government will cover the “full cost” of rebuilding the bridge – which experts say could be over $600m (£474m).
He told reporters: “Everything so far indicates that this was a terrible accident. At this time we have no other indication, no other reason to believe there’s any intentional act here.
“Personnel on board the ship were able to alert the Maryland Department of Transportation that they had lost control of their vessel.”
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
0:59
Timeline of Baltimore bridge collapse
Mr Biden added that this meant local authorities were able to close the bridge before it was struck, which “undoubtedly saved lives”.
He continued: “Our prayers are with everyone involved in this terrible accident and all the families [affected], especially those waiting for news of their loved one right now. I know every minute in that circumstance feels like a lifetime.”
The Key Bridge carries the Interstate 695 highway over the Patapsco River southeast of the Baltimore metropolitan area.
Its main section spans 1,200 feet and was one of the longest continuous truss bridges in the world upon its completion, according to the National Steel Bridge Alliance.
The Dali was previously involved in a minor incident when it hit a quay at the Port of Antwerp in Belgium in 2016, where it was damaged, according to Vessel Finder and maritime accident site Shipwrecklog.