6 die, 7 hurt in crash during police chase in Edna 
 
 Six people died and seven others were injured early Thursday morning in a traffic crash during a police chase in Edna. 
 
 The wreck happened about 1:30 a.m. on northbound U.S. 59 near Loop 521, according to Clinton Wooldridge, Chief of the Edna Police Department. 
 
 In a statement released to the media, Wooldridge said the incident began when police tried to stop a 2003 Ford Explorer for a traffic violation on U.S. 59. The driver refused to stop and sped away, traveling north on the freeway service road. 
 
 Police followed the Explorer, which was registered in Corpus Christi. Wooldridge said the Explorer driver turned around and headed southbound on the freeway. 
 
 The chase, lasting nearly 10 minutes, came to an abrupt end on U.S. 59 when the driver lost control of the SUV, ran off the road, and flipped multiple times. 
 
 Wooldridge said four people were tossed from the SUV during the crash. They died at the scene. 
 
 Nine other people were injured. Three of them were flown by LifeFlight medical helicopter to Memorial Hermann-The Texas Medical Center. Two of them later died. 
 
 DPS: 1 surviving victim from Edna rollover at Memorial Herman, 6 others at Jackson Co Hospital in stable #khou11 pic.twitter.com/YqlLgDu8Tc — Drew Karedes (@DrewKaredesKHOU) September 24, 2015 
 
 The other injured people were taken by ambulance to Jackson County Hospital. Details of their injuries and conditions were not released. 
 
 Two people in the Explorer ran away. Officers later found them and took them into custody. It's not known if either of them was the driver. No information was released about their possible injuries. 
 
 Wooldridge said investigators are trying to identify the people who were in the SUV. Some of them were from Honduras and Guatemala. 
 
 Wooldridge said he did not know the their legal status but some of them were from South America. The rear seats in the Explorer had been folded down, he added, and the middle seats had been removed as if to allow for more space inside the SUV. The Department of Public Safety is investigating the wreck. ||||| Six people are dead and two people were arrested after a police chase Thursday morning in Edna, a town northwest of Victoria. Human smuggling is suspected in this case.The crash happened on Highway 59 after police say they tried to stop a Ford Explorer for a traffic violation. The driver wouldn't stop, so police gave chase.Police say the vehicle fled north on Highway 59 feeder, but then turned around at the dead end of the feeder road and headed back into Edna. The vehicle turned onto Highway 59 northbound at County Road 300. Officers say they believe the driver thought to take the Loop 521 exit, then at the last minute decided to continue on Highway 59 North.Police say just after 1:30am, the driver appeared to over-correct, rolling or flipping the vehicle several times, ejecting four people inside. Three people were flown by Life Flight to area hospitals, and six others were transported via ambulance to Jackson County Hospital."We estimate there where anywhere from 14 to 15 people in the vehicle," DPS Trooper Ruben San Miguel told Eyewitness News.Edna police say the rear seat of the Ford Explorer was folded down and the middle seat removed, apparently to create more room in the vehicle.Two people who fled the crash on foot are now in police custody.All but one of the seven surviving victims are in stable condition. Most victims have since been turned over to U.S. Border Patrol agents. Authorities say some of the victims have been identified as being from Honduras and Guatemala.Fatality accidents involving related to human trafficking are not uncommon in southeast Texas. In April 2012, nine people were killed near McAllen when the minivan they were riding in crashed while being pursued by Border Patrol agents. In July of the same year, 14 people died outside Goliad when a pickup truck veered off the road. In many cases, authorities say smugglers are attempting to move large groups of undocumented immigrants between "stash houses" to evade capture."(U.S. 59) is a major corridor to get to Houston from the Valley and from the border. It is why it is used for not only human trafficking, but also drug trafficking as well," said Trooper San Miguel. ||||| AUSTIN, Tex. — Traffic stops of vehicles carrying immigrants are fairly common on a stretch of Texas highway that begins in Laredo and runs northeast to Houston and beyond. Often, the police say, the immigrants, many of whom have crossed the border illegally, try to make a run for it when the vehicle is stopped. 
 
 Early Thursday, what started as a traffic stop by the local police ended with six people dead, Texas officials said, when the driver of a sport utility vehicle overloaded with immigrants sped away from officers and lost control, flipping over several times and ejecting several occupants. 
 
 The accident along Highway 59, about 90 miles southwest of Houston, near Edna, Tex., also injured 10, said the police chief of Edna, Clinton Wooldridge. At least three remained in a nearby hospital. 
 
 Federal immigration officials conducting a criminal investigation into the crash determined that the S.U.V., a 2003 Ford Explorer, was being used by a human smuggling ring to transport 12 undocumented immigrants, all adults, from Honduras, Guatemala and Mexico, according to a spokeswoman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
– Human smuggling is suspected in an early morning crash outside Houston that left six people dead, seven injured, and two arrested, KTRK reports. The incident started when police tried to pull over an SUV for a traffic violation, according to the Houston Chronicle. The driver allegedly sped off, leading police on a nearly 10-minute freeway chase before losing control of the SUV. The vehicle flipped multiple times, ejecting four people, all of whom died at the scene, the Chronicle reports. Two others later died at the hospital. Officers reportedly arrested two suspects who fled from the scene; the extent of their injuries is unknown. According to KTRK, the SUV's middle seats had been removed and the rear seats folded down in an apparent attempt to fit more people inside. Police say 15 people believed to be immigrants were crowded into the vehicle, reports the New York Times. The youngest, age 18, didn't survive. Police say most are from Honduras or Guatemala.