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| Two Inmates Die In U.S. Marshals Service Van Crash |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 04/12/2002 |
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A van carrying 13 federal prisoners and two officers careened off a West Texas freeway Wednesday afternoon, killing at least two people on board and injuring the rest. The identities of the two killed, both prisoners, were being withheld Wednesday night until their families could be notified. Texas Department of Public Safety Cpl. Kathy Briggs said the van was eastbound on Interstate 10, roughly midway between Van Horn and Pecos, when it drifted off the roadway and struck the guardrail. The van then 'went across the eastbound lane, did a 180, and rolled down a steep incline.' Cpl. Briggs said the van rolled repeatedly, flinging out inmates. The driver and the other officer, she said, apparently were not thrown from the vehicle. The van came to rest upright on an access road. Two prisoners were pronounced dead at the scene by Jeff Davis County Justice of the Peace George Grubb. The remaining prisoners were transported by helicopter or ambulance to hospitals in the region. A written statement issued by Jack Dean, U.S. marshal for the Western District of Texas, said the van was en route from El Paso County to the Ector County Correctional Center in Odessa. The facility is managed by a private firm, CiviGenics, which also operated the van involved in Wednesday's accident. According to the Massachusetts company's Web site, federal prisoners are detained there under contract with the Western District U.S. Marshal's Service. 'Initial reports indicate that the van left the highway and rolled over as a result of a tire failure,' according to Mr. Dean's statement. The accident is being investigated by the DPS. Cpl. Briggs said that the cause of the accident had not been determined Wednesday evening, but that it 'might have been driver fatigue.' The van left Odessa at 4:30 a.m. Wednesday en route to El Paso and was returning when the accident occurred about 2:30 p.m. One of the officers drove to El Paso, Cpl. Briggs said, and the second officers was driving back. Cpl. Briggs said the 'tire ... on the front driver's side' did fail, but it was uncertain whether that happened before the van began to leave the roadway or afterward. |
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