Palm Beach Post

Seven dead in I-95 crash

By Kelly Wolfe and Will Vash, Palm Beach Post Staff Writers
Friday, April 2, 2004

Seven migrant workers were killed and 12 more were injured late Thursday afternoon when the Econoline van they were riding in struck the median on southbound Interstate 95 and rolled over four times, just short of the Okeechobee exit that was supposed to take them back to Fort Pierce, officials said.

All 19 were ejected from the van during the crash, about 5:50 p.m. just west of Fort Pierce. The van was southbound when what witnesses described as a "distracted driver" drove onto the median, officials said.

Although investigators moved quickly to transport the injured to area hospitals, family members began arriving while the dead still lay on the ground.

"It is so awful to look around, there's just bodies -- dead bodies all over the ground -- covered with white sheets and I have no idea who they are," Ruben Vargas said through an interpreter.

Vargas said he is the brother-in-law of the van's driver, Salvadore Leon.

"We came as fast as we could, we want to know how he is, if he even made it," Vargas said.

Florida Highway Patrol troopers said Leon survived the crash and was transported by helicopter to Holmes Regional Medical Center. But Holmes Regional said Leon was not a patient.

All of the men in the van were believed to be Mexican immigrants. The accident was yet another in a long line of fatal wrecks involving immigrant workers. In 1990, 10 workers from the same family were killed when a van ran off a remote country road and plunged into a canal near Clewiston.

The FHP did not identify anyone involved in the crash Thursday night, saying families should be notified first.

Officials did say the injured were all receiving medical attention at area hospitals. Two were flown by helicopter, one to Holmes Regional and the other to St. Mary's Medical Center in West Palm Beach. Two were driven to Indian River Memorial Hospital in Vero Beach; five to Lawnwood Regional Medical Center and Heart Institute in Fort Pierce; and four to St. Lucie Medical Center in Port St. Lucie.

Two of the injured are in critical condition, said FHP Lt. David Timothy Frith, "barely hanging on."

Vargas said Leon has a wife and two children in Mexico.

"I have to call her, and that call will be difficult to make because this is very grave news," Vargas said.

The scene shocked even hardened investigators, Frith said.

"I haven't seen six fatalities in one vehicle in my entire career," Frith said. "This is really heart wrenching for all of us."

Motorists arrived before law enforcement officials, driving up on what looked like a vision from hell.

"I saw bodies scattered all over the place, I knew it was bad," said Frank Short, 49, who was driving an 18-wheeler from Stuart to Fort Canaveral.

The workers in the Econoline were returning from a day picking fruit in some groves near Sebastian belonging to Circle H Citrus of Fort Pierce, officials said.

The president of Circle H Citrus, George Pantuso of Indian River Drive, did not return calls seeking comment Thursday night. Gov. Jeb. Bush recently appointed Pantuso to the Florida Citrus Commission. His term begins June 1.

Short said his 23 years of driving a truck have made him wary of such vans of workers. He often comes across accidents and said when vehicles are packed with people -- often unrestrained -- it's only a matter of time before something goes horribly wrong.

"It's upsetting, but it doesn't surprise me," he said.

The Econoline 350 is designed to hold 15 passengers, according to the van maker's Web site.

Meanwhile, drivers were stuck for hours while I-95 was closed in both directions in Fort Pierce. By 9 p.m., both southbound lanes from Indrio Road to Orange Avenue had reopened, but northbound lanes were still closed.

The FHP is continuing to investigate the wreck.

The crash came less than four months after a Palm Beach Post series, "Modern-Day Slavery," documented how Florida's migrant labor system abuses poor farm workers from Mexico. The series noted how large numbers of farm workers are packed tightly into vans or trucks and how some are killed or maimed in accidents.

Previous deadly crashes

Palm Beach Post Staff Reports
Friday, April 2, 2004

July 1995: Two Indiantown migrants die in Syracuse, N.Y., and 12 others are hurt when the van they are riding in swerves off the road and hits a tree.

December 1993: Two Jupiter migrants die when the cargo van they are riding in -- which does not have enough seats to accommodate all 11 passengers -- crashes.

October 1991: Two farmworkers die when the van they are riding in is struck by a speeder who ran a red light.

October 1991: Seven Guatemalan sugar planters drown when their station wagon blows a tire and runs into a canal at the Okeelanta Sugar Corp. near South Bay.

January 1990: Ten members of one family die when their van drives into a canal off a remote county road south of Clewiston.

May 1963: Twenty-seven people drown when the bus they are riding in drives off the road in Belle Glade. The deadly crash encourages Congress to pass the Farm Labor Contractors Act requiring crew leaders be licensed and carry some liability insurance.