A pickup truck carrying 18 illegal immigrants from Guatemala and Mexico plunged off a cliff of more than 40 feet deep in southwest Texas, injuring all 18 aboard, Texas police said Wednesday, Xinhua reported.
The truck went off a road near the city of Alice and plunged off the cliff and into a caliche pit Tuesday afternoon, when the driver steered it through a fence, police said.
An undisclosed number of people remained hospitalized till Wednesday, some with critical injuries, police said. The others injured have been treated and sent to Border Patrol custody.
The driver of the truck has been charged with illegal immigrant smuggling involving death or serious injury, Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Leticia Zamarripa said.
Further investigation of the case is now proceeding by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.