Mexico crossing reopens after fiery big rig wreck; union calls for investigation

The Associated Press

1/14/2008

PHARR, Texas. — The Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge in South Texas reopened early Friday following a fiery wreck that killed four people and injured six.

Authorities said a van burst into flames Thursday night when it was hit by two 18-wheelers that collided on the bridge, which spans the Texas-Mexico border. The cause of the wreck, which occurred shortly after 7 p.m. Thursday, was under investigation by the Pharr Police Department and the state Department of Public Safety.

The driver of the van was killed and both 18-wheelers caught fire, but the truck drivers escaped with minor injuries, said Pharr police Lt. Lupe Salinas. Police were still trying to identify the van’s driver Friday afternoon.

Three men, believed to be Reynosa residents, died after their pickup truck plunged from the bridge and landed on a road below.

A minivan was also involved in the wreck, but its occupants — one adult and three children — suffered only minor injuries, authorities said.

Pharr Emergency Management Coordinator Elsa Sanchez told The Associated Press that both 18-wheelers and the minivan appeared to have Mexican license plates.

According to a Web news story by The Brownsville Herald, one of the 18-wheelers attempted a U-turn on the bridge — a “routine” maneuver, despite the width of bridge, for truckers from Mexico who realize they lack the proper documentation for crossing the border with a load.

In a subsequent news release, the Teamsters Union urged the Bush administration to fully investigate the accident.

“We’ve been saying for years that Mexican trucks are not as safe as American trucks,” said Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa. “We’re concerned the Bush administration will cover up what happened because it wants to protect its illegal and reckless project to open the border to Mexican trucks.”

The tractor trailers involved belonged to Fletes Y Acarreos de Reynosa and Autotransportes Cienfuegos, both based in Reynosa, according to Pharr police and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

A spokeswoman for FMCSA said that neither company is part of the demonstration project started last year allowing some Mexican trucking companies to operate outside the free trade zones, which are within 25 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border.

The agency is handling the crash like any other in the U.S., said spokeswoman Melissa Mazzella DeLaney.

The investigation is complicated by the lack of skid marks, which were burned in the ensuing inferno, and a camera on the bridge was not functioning at the time of the crash, according to The Herald.

The bridge reopened around 9 a.m. Friday and was operating normally, said Pharr Asst. Police Chief Javier Perez.

The accident occurred during one of the bridge’s busiest traffic times.

Fred Brouwen, assistant bridge director, said the wreck caused no damage to the structure of the bridge.

The bridge is typically closed from midnight to 6 a.m.

The bridge, which has one southbound lane and three northbound lanes, is Texas’ fourth-largest commercial vehicle crossing with Mexico, Brouwen said. About 1,700 trucks and 7,000 cars cross the bridge from Mexico to Texas each day. The bridge handles about 6,000 cars and 1,600 trucks heading south each day, he said.

“This is basically the second accident in the 15 years we’ve had the bridge,” Brouwen said.

Pharr is in the Rio Grande Valley, about 225 miles south of San Antonio.

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Associated Press Writers Christopher Sherman in Houston and Suzanne Gamboa in Washington, D.C. contributed to this report.