Eight people are dead after human smuggler driving car full of illegal migrants crashes into SUV driven by American citizens during pursuit in Texas

A suspected migrant smuggler and seven others are dead after a collision in rural Texas.

The incident occurred on US Highway 57 near the farming community of Batesville, and left two innocent Americans dead, local authorities said.

The early-morning crash happened some 50 miles from the border around 6:30am local time, and state officials later revealed the pair hailed from Georgia. Both were in the front seat of an SUV struck by the suspected smuggler’s vehicle.

That car, cops said, had been speeding away from local officers just before the crash – which happened as it attempted to pass an 18-wheeler in a no-passing zone. Everyone involved died, cops revealed in a series of statements.

DPS Troopers later confirmed that several of the deceased – including the suspected smuggler – were from Honduras. Officials from the Texas Department of Public Safety said their investigation was ongoing.

The accident comes as the Biden Administration continues to struggle with the flow of migrants from South and Central America – as 2.47million were stopped at the border in fiscal year 2023, up from the previous record 2.4million the year before.

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