Eight people died in a serious accident in a border town in the southern United States on Sunday. This was confirmed by a police spokesman for the city of Brownsville in the state of Texas in a TV interview.
The city’s fire department had previously announced that seven people had died at the scene. The eighth person later succumbed to their injuries in hospital. At least nine other injured were taken to local hospitals.
Several US media, including the “New York Times” and the broadcaster CNN, citing official information, reported that an SUV drove into a group of people who were waiting at a bus stop near a shelter for migrants.
Arrested driver does not cooperate
It was unclear whether the driver lost control of the car or was intentionally steered into the group, it said. The Brownsville police and fire department initially spoke of a “serious accident”. The arrested alleged driver did not cooperate with the police, did not say his name or give fingerprints, the police spokesman said.
According to initial reports, some of the dead were Venezuelan migrants. The Venezuelan government regrets the incident and has called for a full investigation, Venezuela’s Foreign Minister Yvan Gil said on Twitter.
Brownsville is right on the border with Mexico. US Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas visited the city on Friday and warned migrants against crossing the border illegally. The situation on the US-Mexico southern border has long been tense amid large numbers of migrants from Central and South America attempting to cross into the United States.
