2023-05-08 00:24:19
A vehicle hit a group gathered outside a migrant reception center in Texas on Sunday, May 7, killing seven people and injuring a dozen others, local police said.
Police in the city of Brownsville said they could not immediately confirm whether it was an accident or a deliberate act, but a witness told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that the driver had ” insult “ those present before accelerating.
“Seven people died” and among them are migrants, Brownsville police spokesman Martin Sandoval told AFP. “We don’t know if all the people who died were migrants. We are investigating this with the border police”he added. “For now we are treating the case as an accident”he said.
The driver was arrested and is being treated for injuries, according to Sandoval. He ran over several people who were waiting at a bus stop outside a center for homeless people, which is currently accepting migrants due to “current influx”the official had earlier told a local television station.
“It happened suddenly”
The news comes at a time when the authorities are preparing for the lifting, on Thursday, of a health measure allowing the immediate expulsion of migrants, the « Titre 42 ». Its expiration makes the authorities fear a spike in illegal entries into the United States.
One of the people who was there in Brownsville told AFP that it all happened in space “for a few moments”. “It happened suddenly. A lady drove by and told us to get out of the way, and we got out of the way. It was a matter of a few moments. The assassin came by car pointing at us, insulting us”, said Luis Herrera, a 36-year-old Venezuelan with an arm injury. According to him, the driver accelerated while approaching.
The executive director of the Ozanam center for homeless people, Victor Maldonado, told AFP by telephone that about 20 people, all Venezuelans, were waiting at the bus stop around 8:30 a.m. local time (10:30 a.m. to Paris) when the vehicle arrived. “Suddenly this SUV came at very high speed, hit the pavement and split the group”, he said, claiming that severed limbs were strewn on the ground after the event. The witnesses were “really shocked”, he added. The driver “tried to flee but the residents (of the Center) caught and immobilized him”.
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