HOUSTON, March 21 (Xinhua) -- Six people believed to be undocumented immigrants were killed and nine others injured when a truck being pursued by police made a sudden turn and crashed into a security barrier at a U.S. Navy base in Texas, local officials confirmed Thursday.
The accident happened late Wednesday at the Naval Air Station Kingsville, in Kleberb County, as a Kingsville police officer was chasing the pickup truck through the town, the Houston Chronicle, a local newspaper, quoted Charlie Ramirez with the Texas Department of Transportation as saying.
The vehicle did not stop at the guard gate when it attempted to enter the naval air base, and"the popup guards were activated to prevent anybody from entering the base itself,"said Ramirez."The pickup ran into it."
Ramirez said the victims were rushed to the hospital after the crash at about 11 p.m. Wednesday. It was unknown where the people were from and who was driving, he said.
Texas shares an international border with a number of regions of Mexico.
Deaths of illegal immigrants at the U.S.-Mexico border are up 27 percent in the past year as border crossers use increasingly remote and dangerous areas. Statistics show 477 illegal immigrants died at the border last year, up from 375 in 2011.
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