Officials Unable to Identify Driver in Crash That Killed Illegal Immigrants

SAN DIEGO —  Investigators have not been able to determine who was driving the van packed with illegal immigrants that was involved in a deadly crash Friday or determine whether he rammed his van into a Border Patrol van intentionally, the lead investigator said Monday.

California Highway Patrol Officer A. Faison said that interviews with the survivors of the crash that killed two illegal immigrants and injured 19 others proved fruitless in providing the name of the driver.

Faison said it is still unknown whether the driver was among the dead, the injured or the three to five people who fled after an overloaded van tumbled down an embankment along Interstate 8 at Alpine, 30 miles east of San Diego.

“We need all the help we can get,” said Faison.

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Representatives of the Mexican Consulate in San Diego have also interviewed the survivors but have been unable to find out the name of the driver, according to consulate spokeswoman Lourdes Sandoval. She said the immigrants--packed inside a van without side windows--were unable to agree on what caused the two vehicles to collide.

“There are many versions to this story,” Sandoval said.

She added that the statements of the survivors will be turned over to an attorney for the consulate to see if they have any grounds for a civil suit against the Border Patrol.

Four of the injured remained in area hospitals Monday. The others are in the custody of the Immigration and Naturalization Service. The two dead men have not been identified, Sandoval said.

Identifying the drivers involved in such incidents is key to a crackdown by federal prosecutors on the smuggling of illegal immigrants. But a code of silence among immigrants often hampers investigations.

Border Patrol officials say that many immigrants are warned by smugglers that they or their families will be harmed if they provide information to authorities if apprehended.

In the Alpine crash, two Border Patrol agents told CHP investigators that they drove alongside the van and motioned for the driver to pull to the side of the road. Instead, the driver slammed on the brakes and turned sharply left so that the van collided with the Border Patrol van, the agents said.

The Border Patrol was dented and left with brown paint scrapes on the right rear wheel well. Neither agent was injured.

The crash occurred 15 miles west of the Border Patrol checkpoint on westbound I-8 that was opened Oct. 31. In six months, 2,810 illegal immigrants have been apprehended and 3,000 pounds of marijuana seized at or near the checkpoint, which Border Patrol officials take as a sign that smugglers are moving east to evade the agency’s buildup near the San Ysidro border crossing.