A car allegedly speeding away from the U.S. Border Patrol crashed, killing two migrants and injuring the driver and four other passengers along the Rio Grande in West El Paso, police said.
The incident on Sunday, Oct. 12, began after Border Patrol agents “initiated a pursuit” after seeing several people run from the border fence and enter a 2011 Infiniti G37, stated an El Paso Police Department news release by spokesman Officer Adrian Cisneros on Monday, Oct. 13.
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The car fled on West Paisano Drive, made a U-turn and continued speeding westbound along West Paisano Drive, which runs parallel alongside the border fence and Rio Grande, police reported.
The driver lost control on a curve, hit the curb and crashed into a light pole, causing the car to flip at 5:54 p.m. in the 2300 block of West Paisano Drive, near the old Asarco site, east of Executive Center Boulevard.
The driver of the car suspected in the border smuggling attempt was identified by police as Juan Bernardo Galarza, 18, of El Paso’s Lower Valley.
An El Paso County jail log shows that Galarza has not been booked into jail, possibly indicating that he may still be hospitalized.
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Border Patrol officials did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
The crash occurred as illegal border crossings nationally have plunged to their lowest level since 1970 amid President Donald Trump’s aggressive immigration enforcement, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Migrants from Mexico, Guatemala killed in West Paisano Drive crash
Two passengers died at the scene and all other occupants of the car were transported to a hospital with undisclosed injuries, police reported.
The migrants who died were identified by El Paso police as Axel Everado Iquic Sequen, 30, of Guatemala, and Manuel Mateo Lopez, 22, of Mexico.
The four surviving passengers were:
Brenda Fernandez, 47, of Honduras
Javier Isaac Gonzalez Cardona, 19, of Guatemala
Mario Gilberto Mendoza Alvarado, 32, of Guatemala
Esperanza Yamileth Lopez Ramirez, 18, of Guatemala
The medical condition of the driver and surviving passengers was not immediately available on Monday.
The police Special Traffic Investigations Unit continues its investigation into the wreck. There have been 50 traffic-related deaths in El Paso this year compared with 53 at the same time last year.
Dangerous smuggler pursuits
Migrant smuggler drivers fleeing from law enforcement in dangerous high-speed pursuits have been a yearslong concern in El Paso.
The drivers — often teenagers or young adults — are recruited and hired by smuggling organizations to pick up and transport undocumented migrants after they cross the U.S. border, law enforcement officials have said. The migrants are generally taken to a local stash house, where they stay until continuing their journey to cities across the United States.
El Paso Times archives: A hot pursuit, a deadly crash and the dangerous business of migrant smuggling
In 2020, seven people were killed and three others injured during a smuggling run that ended when a car fleeing from the Border Patrol crashed on a curve on West Paisano Drive by Union Depot in Downtown. It was one of the deadliest crashes in El Paso in recent memory.
Daniel Borunda may be reached at dborunda@elpasotimes.com and @BorundaDaniel on X.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: 2 migrants killed in El Paso car crash during Border Patrol chase