At Least 26 People Dead After Freight Truck and Passenger Van Collide in Mexico

The accident occurred in the northern Mexico state of Tamaulipas on Sunday afternoon

At least 26 people were killed in Mexico over the weekend after a passenger van collided with a freight truck, authorities said.

The accident occurred in the northern Mexico state of Tamaulipas near the capital of Ciudad Victoria on Sunday afternoon, when the two vehicles crashed and caught on fire, the Tamaulipas public security ministry said, according to Reuters.

When first responders arrived at the accident along the Victoria-Zaragoza highway, they found that the cab of the truck was no longer at the scene, prompting authorities to believe the driver may have fled, a source in the Tamaulipas prosecutor's office told the outlet.

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The death toll is a preliminary estimate and may go higher due to the volume of the wreckage and the fact that the van and truck were charred beyond recognition, the Associated Press reported.

A video taken at the incident showed a fiery scene, where only the back panel of the trailer remained intact.

Many of the victims may be part of the same family, the AP reported, though authorities have not officially confirmed the identities of those who died.

Related:At Least 39 Dead and 29 Injured in Migrant Center Fire Near U.S.-Mexico Border

The victims in the van, all believed to be Mexican citizens, were thought to have been tied to a private transportation business local media reported, according to ABC News.

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