BROWNSVILLE, Texas —A vehicle struck and killed seven people while they were waiting at a city bus stop outside a migrant shelter in the border city of Brownsville, Texas, on Sunday morning. The incident also left up to six others injured. Brownsville police investigator Martin Sandoval stated that the crash occurred at around 8:30 a.m.
Shelter director Victor Maldonado of the Bishop Enrique San Pedro Ozanam Center said that he reviewed the shelter’s surveillance video after receiving a call about the crash. According to Maldonado, the city bus stop is located across the street from the shelter, is not marked, and lacks a bench.
As a result, people waiting there were sitting along the curb. He also mentioned that most of the victims were Venezuelan men.
The shelter can hold 250, but many who arrive leave the same day. In the last several weeks, an uptick in border crossings prompted the city to declare an emergency as local, state and federal resources coordinated the enforcement and humanitarian response.
“In the last two months, we’ve been getting 250 to 380 a day,” Maldonado said.
While the shelter offers migrants transportation during the week, they are also free to use the city’s public transportation.
“Some of them were on the way to the bus station, because they were on their way to their destination,” the director said.
