Global Courant 2023-05-08 05:44:25
The SUV drove into a group of people waiting on the side of the road for a bus at a refugee, migrant and homeless shelter in the US.
Police in the US state of Texas have said at least seven people have been killed and 10 injured after a car plowed into a group of people waiting for a bus near a refugee, migrant and homeless shelter.
The incident happened Sunday in the border town of Brownsville when a silver-gray SUV reportedly ran a red light and pulled up to the curb where the group was waiting.
Victor Maldonado, the director of the Ozanam Center, said he viewed the shelter’s surveillance video after receiving a call about the crash.
“What we see in the video is this SUV, a Range Rover, just shone the light that was about 30 feet away and just went through the people sitting there at the bus stop,” said Maldonado.
Police arrested the driver and investigators said it was not yet clear whether the act was intentional. The man has been charged with reckless driving and will face charges, police said.
“It could be three factors,” said Brownsville police investigator Martin Sandoval. “It could be intoxication; it could be an accident; or it could be intentional. To find out exactly what happened, we need to eliminate the other two.
The bus stop is across the street and had no bench, so some people sat along the curb, Maldonado said.
He said the SUV overturned after hitting the side of the road and continued for about 60 meters (200 ft). Some people walking on the sidewalk were also hit, he added.
The driver was taken to hospital for injuries sustained when the car flipped over, Sandoval said.
“He is uncooperative at the hospital, but he will be transported to our city jail as soon as he is released,” Sandoval said. “Then we take his fingerprints and (take) a police photo, and then we can find his true identity.”
Investigators at the scene of the incident, which took place near Ozanam Center, a shelter for refugees, migrants and the homeless in Brownsville (John Faulk/Reuters)
Brownsville has long been an epicenter for migration into the United States and has become a major focus leading up to the end of the pandemic border restrictions, known as Title 42, on May 11. It is just across the border from Matamoros, one of Mexico’s most dangerous cities.
The Ozanam Shelter is Brownsville’s only overnight shelter and administers the release of thousands of refugees and migrants from federal custody.
Maldonado said the center had not received any threats before the crash, but it did afterward.
“I had a few people come by the gate to tell the guard that the reason this happened was because of us,” Maldonado said.
The shelter can accommodate as many as 250 people, but many arrive and leave on the same day.
There has been an increase in border crossings in recent weeks.
“In the last two months, we’ve been getting 250 to 380 a day,” said Maldonado.
