At Least 15 People Dead in Southern California Crash Involving Semi-Truck and SUV

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A multiple vehicle crash between a semi-truck and an SUV near the Mexican-U.S. border has resulted in at least 15 deaths, according to reports.

Per The Los Angeles Times, the wreck occurred near Holtville, California, and responders were called to the scene around 6 a.m. local time. USA Today reports that an SUV carrying “dozens of passengers” struck a semi-truck carrying gravel. They cite El Centro Regional Medical Center Judy Cruz, who shared that 14 people died on scene, while another died at the hospital. She goes on to say that a dozen people were taken to various area hospitals with injuries. San Francisco’s ABC 7 reports that the SUV was carrying 27 passengers at the time of the accident. Cruz confirmed that in a Facebook video about the accident.

“Three of them were flown out from the scene,” Cruz said in the video.

The CEO of El Centro Regional Medical Center Adolphe Edward said they would not be sharing any further information about the patients at this time.

“The patients are going through a difficult time, as you can imagine. This was a major accident,” he said. “We are not going to be releasing any other information regarding the patients.”

Footage from the scene of the crash shared on Twitter showed responding officers from many different agencies.