Two members of the service were killed and a third was in “serious” condition after the vehicle in which they were crashed near the border between the United States and Mexico in New Mexico, military officers said on Tuesday.
The accident was reported on the New Mexico Highway on the Mile 115 marker near the Border Patrol Station of Santa Teresa in Santa Teresa, New Mexico, the KTSM of El Paso, Texas, of NBC.
The area is about 13 miles north of El Paso and adjacent to the border.
The southern border of the joint task force said in a statement that the accident occurred around 8:50 am
Details about the dead and injured, including their tasks, were not available. The Joint Task Force Southern Border did not immediately respond to a more information request on Tuesday night.
The service members were assigned to the task force, which this year consolidated the military command at the border after President Donald Trump took advantage of the defense budget for the effort.
In March, the Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, ordered that almost 3,000 active service troops accumulate on the border between the United States and Mexico as part of Trump’s effort to close immigration and drug trafficking. The forces include elements of a combat team from the Stryker Brigade and a general support aviation battalion, said the Department of Defense.
Local authorities, including the Mrs. Ana County Sheriff’s office, initially reported that the three service members had been taken to a hospital by helicopter, according to KTSM.
The images published by the station show parts of a vehicle outside the road and in a decline.
The cause of the accident is under investigation, said the joint task force.
