Traffic stop results in 4 dying in canal (Arizona Republic)

Traffic stop results in 4 dying in canal

by Astrid Galvan - Oct. 28, 2008 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic

Four immigrants died while trying to flee authorities by jumping into a canal on the Gila River Reservation.

The incident began on Sunday around 12:30 pm., when Gila River Indian Community police officers pulled over a suspicious van near State Route 87 and Gilbert Road, on the reservation.

When officers walked toward the van, the driver drove off but encountered officers on the other side of the road.

The van, which authorities suspect carried about 20 illegal immigrants, was boxed in.

Passengers ran.

A man was rescued from the canal on Sunday. He is in the custody of federal immigration officers, according to Gila River spokeswoman Alia Maisonet.

Fourteen other suspected illegal immigrants who escaped from the van are also in federal custody; five of them were found near the site of the stop; nine were found near the Honeywell testing facility west of the Santan Mountains.

Some jumped through a farm fence while others attempted to escape through a nearby canal that was 7 feet deep, Maisonet said.

All four bodies found in the canal were adults. There were no children involved in the incident, authorities said.

One of the victims, a woman, was airlifted to a hospital but died Sunday night. The body of a man was also found that same night.

Sunday's search ended shortly after 8 p.m., when it became too dark, Maisonet said.

The search resumed Monday morning, when rescuers found the bodies of two men.

The banks in the canal are inclined and slippery, which made it difficult for the jumpers to get out, Maisonet said.

Some immigrants were wearing two sets of clothing, which weighed them down, she added.

Three Gila River officers jumped in the canal Sunday and rescued a man and the woman who later died at the hospital.

A water rescue team from the Pinal County Sheriff's Office was called in.

Bureau of Immigation and Customs Enforcement spokesman Vincent Picard said an investigation is ongoing and it has not been determined whether the driver drowned.

The immigrants were from various countries, including Mexico and Guatemala, Picard said.