Brownsville: Seven people were dead and up to 12 others injured after they were struck by a vehicle when waiting at a city bus stop near a migrant shelter in Brownsville, southern Texas, authorities said.
Brownsville police investigator Martin Sandoval said that the crash happened about 8:30 a.m. local time on Sunday at a bus stop near the Ozanam Center in the Texan city bordering Mexico, Xinhua news agency reported.
According to the Brownsville Fire Department, up to 12 people were injured in the crash.
“Seven individuals have been pronounced dead at the scene and 11 transported to local hospitals. One individual was airlifted to Valley Baptist Harlingen,” the department said on its Facebook page.
The driver has been arrested and charged. Brownsville police say it is not clear whether the incident was intentional.
Earlier US media reports quoted police as saying it appeared to be a deliberate attack.
The director of the nearby Bishop Enrique San Pedro Ozanam Center, Victor Maldonado, told the BBC World Service’s Newshour programme that surveillance footage showed an SUV running a red light and approaching the bus stop at speed.
The vehicle then hit the curb and flew about 200ft – hitting those in its path.
Maldonado said that roughly half an hour before the incident, a group of around 20 people who had been staying at the centre left and walked over to wait at the bus stop, the British news broadcaster reported.
(IANS)
