Authorities say a crash that killed five men in Northern California farm country happened when one of the drivers ran a stop sign during thick morning fog.
A truck broadsided a van carrying seven farmworkers, all from the Mexican state of Puebla, on Tuesday east of Stockton in San Joaquin County. The California Highway Patrol said Thursday that neither driver was licensed to drive.
The Sacramento Bee reports that investigators say the van failed to wait at a stop sign Tuesday at State Route 4. Visibility was less than 100 feet at the time.
Five people in the van were pronounced dead at the scene. They were: Simei Teta-Betancourt, 29; Juan Minas-Rodriguez, 42; Oscar Macario-Nasario, 32; Antonio Ocotino-Morales, 24; and Rudolfo Carrillo, 42, according to the California Highway Patrol.
Two people in the van and two people in the truck survived.
No criminal charges were immediately announced.
But the U.S. Department of Labor was also investigating the incident to determine whether the farmworkers were being transported by their employers and whether those employers had followed legal safety standards, including ensuring company vehicles are driven by licensed drivers, that they had appropriate insurance, functional headlights and enough working seat belts to accommodate all passengers.
