Van bursts into flames after crash with tractor-trailer in Mexico killing 27 people

Van bursts into flames after crash with tractor-trailer in Mexico killing 27 people – including children – as police work to see if tractor driver died or took off after the wreck

  • A crash between a van and a tractor-trailer left 27 people dead in Tamaulipas, Mexico, on Sunday
  • All of the victims in the van were killed; at least 24 of them were burned
  • The truck that was pulling the trailer was missing from the site; the driver had not been located as of Monday morning

At least 27 people were killed after a van and a tractor trailer crashed on a highway in the northern Mexico.

The accident occurred Sunday morning near Ciudad Victoria, the capital of the state of Tamaulipas.

At least 24 of the 27 victims were found burned inside the van. 

A preliminary report released by the Tamaulipas Public Security Minister indicated that the van and the cargo box caught fire just moments following the crash.

Police have not said what led to the wreck. The driver of the trailer was not accounted for after the wreck as some speculated they fled, while others say he might have died in the wreck.  

At least 27 people – including children – were killed after their van crashed with a tractor trailer on a highway in Tamaulipas, Mexico, on Sunday

Firefighters investigate the site of Sunday morning's tragic accident in northern Mexico that left 27 people dead after their van crashed with a tractor-trailer. The truck hauling the cargo box was missing from the scene. It has been suggested that the driver sped off

Firefighters investigate the site of Sunday morning’s tragic accident in northern Mexico that left 27 people dead after their van crashed with a tractor-trailer. The truck hauling the cargo box was missing from the scene. It has been suggested that the driver sped off

A van and a trailer are on fire following a crash on a highway in Tamaulipas, Mexico, on Sunday

A van and a trailer are on fire following a crash on a highway in Tamaulipas, Mexico, on Sunday

Authorities found the truck that was pulling the trailer was missing from the crash site.

It has been suggested that the driver fled in it.

El Pais newspaper reported that the victims were all residents of the state to the southern state of Veracruz when their van crashed head on with the truck. None of the names of the victims have been released. 

A woman and a child were found dead lying next to the their vehicle. 

A firefighter tries to extinguish a fire at the site of  Sunday's crash that left 27 people dead

A firefighter tries to extinguish a fire at the site of  Sunday’s crash that left 27 people dead

Members of the State Guard gather at the site of a crash in the Victoria-Zaragoza highway

Members of the State Guard gather at the site of a crash in the Victoria-Zaragoza highway

Investigators found identification documents that confirm that all of the victims are Mexican nationals

Investigators found identification documents that confirm that all of the victims are Mexican nationals

The prosecutor’s office source said investigators recovered identification documents that confirmed that all of the victims are Mexican nationals. 

Previous crashes with high death tolls in Mexico have been often blamed on crammed vehicles tied to the smuggling of migrants headed to the country’s northern border region with the United States. 

In February, 14 migrants were killed when the pickup truck transporting them to the U.S. border plunged into a canal in the northern state of Nuevo León.

In December 2021, 56 U.S.-bound migrants were killed and 106 were injured when the tractor-trailer they were being ferried in collided with a bridge in the southern state of Chiapas.

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