Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 10, 1994 TAG: 9403100176
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: BARSTOW, CALIF. LENGTH: Medium
``There were bodies all over the place within a pretty small area,'' said Robert Silver, a motorist who said he was among the first on the scene.
The pickup drifted off Interstate 15 in the Mojave Desert south of Barstow and continued about 190 feet over rocky sand and dirt before slamming into the open ditch, said California Highway Patrol officer Angie Britton.
One victim told officers that 19 of the 20 people were undocumented immigrants from El Salvador and had arrived in the United States overnight, although that wasn't immediately confirmed, Britton said.
The driver, from Guatemala, survived the crash and could face 12 counts of vehicular manslaughter, Britton said. Alcohol didn't appear to be a factor in the crash, she said.
It wasn't known where they were going at the time of the crash, Britton said.
Hours after the 5:50 a.m. accident, coroner's officials were still working to pry four bodies from the wreckage, said Bill Peters, a San Bernardino County sheriff's spokesman.
Seven of the dead were male and five were female. All were adults.
Peters said six people died in the truck cab and six were ejected from the back of the vehicle, which was covered with a camper cap.
Two of the injured were taken to Loma Linda University Hospital, where one was taken into surgery and one appeared to have several broken bones, said spokeswoman Anita Rockwell.
One person with major injuries and two others with moderate injuries were at San Bernardino County Medical Center, said hospital spokeswoman Nelda Heft. Others were taken to Barstow Community Hospital.
Barstow is in San Bernardino County about 80 miles northeast of downtown Los Angeles.
Keywords:
FATALITY
by CNB