KXTV CHANNEL 10 NEWS – SACRAMENTO

November 22, 2005

Four Feared Dead as Van Goes Into Canal

What probably started as another workday has turned tragic for a group of farmworkers in Stanislaus County. Their van went into an irrigation canal and it appears only one made it out alive.

According to the California Highway Patrol in Modesto, the incident happened about 8 this morning near Westley. Five workers in a Chevrolet Astro van were traveling about 40-45-miles-per-hour along the Delta Mendota canal en route from one work site to another. As the driver made a sweeping right turn following the curve of the canal, he reportedly lost control of the van on the gravel. The van went over the embankment and into the water.

The 17-year-old male passenger in the back of the van said he and the others freed themselves from the submerged van. He said he pulled himself to safety using a ladder on the side of the canal. He grabbed an hose and tossed it to the others but it was an unsuccessful attempt to save them.

The CHP and divers from the Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department located two of the victims about one-half mile downstream from where the van entered the water. They have been identified as an 18-year-old Hispanic female and a 30-year-old Hispanic male. Still missing are a 28-year-old Hispanic male and the 18-year-old Hispanic driver. All are from Stockton.

Searchers are looking for the van. They have two vehicles, one on either side of the 60-foot wide canal dragging a cable through the water. One car has been snagged and pulled up but it is not the victims' vehicle.

At its deepest, the canal is 17 feet deep and has a very slow current.

The gravel road the van was on is frequently used by workers tending crops alongside the canal.

Investigators have not released the names of the victims or the survivor.