BLUFF, Utah-
A sport utility vehicle believed to be carrying illegal immigrants rolled several times Monday in southeastern Utah’s San Juan County, killing eight men, authorities said.
Federal immigration agents were investigating it as a possible case of human trafficking.
“We will leave no stone unturned. Our top priority is identifying the person or persons responsible for this tragedy,” said Virginia Kice, a spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The Chevy Suburban carrying 15 people rolled on U.S. 191 when the driver tried to avoid an animal in the remote Four Corners area of Utah, Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico, said Lt. Todd Peterson of the Utah Highway Patrol.
The injured were taken to hospitals in Utah, New Mexico and Colorado. One of the injured was in critical condition, hours after the 3:30 a.m. MDT crash.
The driver fled the scene but was found hiding in the desert about two miles away.
He was identified as a 30-year-old from Guatemala, who was arrested and transported to the Utah County jail on immigration violations unrelated to the crash, Kice said.
Authorities were trying to learn the backgrounds of the 15 people. So far, it had been determined 11 were from Guatemala and three were from Mexico, she said.
“More than half the people were killed or injured. It’s difficult to piece together the circumstances,” Kice said. “This situation is complicated by the remoteness of the accident. We had to travel seven hours to get to the location.”
The Suburban was registered to an owner in Mesa, Ariz., the Utah Highway Patrol said.
“It appears at this time that many of the occupants were not related and were not associated with one another in any way prior to this incident,” Trooper Preston Raban said.
Sheriff Mike Lacy said his investigators estimate the vehicle rolled about five times.
On Oct. 11, 2005, a van loaded with 16 people, all but one in the U.S. illegally, rolled on U.S. 191 near Moab, killing two. The driver was sentenced to two years in federal prison.
