Wreck’s death toll reaches 15
by Coy Slavik
Jul 25, 2012 | 1113 views | 0 0 comments | 7 7 recommendations | email to a friend | print
BERCLAIR – A 15th person involved in Sunday night’s one-vehicle crash on U.S. Highway 59 in Goliad County died Tuesday in a San Antonio hospital.

The man was being treated at San Antonio Military Medical Center.

There is one other victim of the wreck in critical condition at SAMMAC and three others, including a child, in critical condition at San Antonio’s University Hospital. One of the two children being treated at University Hospital has been upgraded to stable condition.

Senior Trooper Gerald L. Bryant of the Texas Department of Public Safety said Tuesday that investigators believe the 2000 Ford F-250 pickup carrying 23 immigrants that swerved off the highway and hit a tree between Berclair and Goliad was headed to Houston.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations agents were looking into possible human smuggling in the case. Among those killed were citizens of Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras.

Bryant identified the driver as 22-year-old Ricardo Mendoza-Pineda, who died in the crash.

Mendoza-Pineda was from Mexico. Bryant said interviews with survivors indicated the truck was bound for Houston.
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