Bus Kills Woman Fleeing U.S. Agents

A San Diego city bus hit and killed a young woman who tried to run across Interstate 5 in National City on Thursday morning after U.S. Border Patrol agents pulled over a van carrying about a dozen illegal immigrants, officials said.

Claudia Garcia, 20, of El Salvador was hit in the southbound slow lane near 8th Street about 4:45 a.m., officials said. She died at the scene.

Garcia and about a dozen other passengers apparently were trying to enter the United States illegally in a van, a Border Patrol statement said.

Agents tried to pull the van over in National City as it traveled north on Interstate 5, officials said. The van pulled onto the shoulder, and the driver and a passenger jumped out and ran away from the freeway, the statement said.

The van, left in gear, continued moving while about 10 more people jumped out and ran, officials said.

As the van veered back onto the freeway, a Border Patrol agent ran through traffic to try to stop it, officials said.

After the van crashed into the freeway median, Garcia and two others jumped out and ran across the southbound lanes, the statement said.

Two people remaining in the van and six others found in the area were taken into custody, officials said. They told authorities that the smugglers told them to run from the van as it was being stopped by the Border Patrol, authorities said.

The Border Patrol is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the van driver or anyone connected with the suspected smuggling operation. Anyone with information is asked to call 428-7246.