EL CAJON, Calif., June 25 (UPI) -- Six people were killed and around 30 were injured Monday night when a van packed with illegal immigrants caused a major traffic collision as it traveled the wrong way on an interstate freeway outside San Diego.
The California Highway Patrol was investigating the deadly pile-up that involved a total of five vehicles and 43 people, and closed Interstate 8 on the rural eastern outskirts of El Cajon for some 10 hours.
"The van was not being pursued at the time by any agencies," CHP Officer Steven Lopez said Tuesday.
The maroon Dodge van had been spotted by the Border Patrol around 9 p.m. PDT near Buckman Springs driving westbound toward San Diego with its headlights off in the eastbound lanes of I-8, the main road link between San Diego and Arizona.
A few minutes later, Lopez said, the van sideswiped two Honda sedans near El Cajon and then struck a Ford Explorer head on, sending the sport utility vehicle over an embankment, killing the driver and injuring a passenger. A Toyota van then struck the crippled Dodge van.
The unidentified driver of the Dodge was among five people killed in the van, which was filled with 33 immigrants from Mexico, Brazil and other Latin American nations.
Six of the injured had to be airlifted to some of the eight area hospitals that treated victims from the crash. Firefighters returning from a nearby brush fire were in the area when the crash occurred and were on the scene within minutes, Lopez said.
The crash was the second this year in San Diego County involving a large number of illegal immigrants. A van struck a boulder on Route S2 on May 15, injuring 15 occupants.
