Two service members were killed and a third was in “serious” condition after the vehicle they were in crashed near the U.S.-Mexico border in New Mexico, military officials said Tuesday.
The crash was reported on New Mexico’s Highway 9 at mile marker 115 near the Santa Teresa Border Patrol Station in Santa Teresa, New Mexico, NBC affiliate KTSM of El Paso, Texas, reported.
The area is about 13 miles north of El Paso and adjacent to the border.
Joint Task Force Southern Border said in a statement that the crash happened about 8:50 a.m.
Details about the dead and injured, including their assignments, were unavailable. Joint Task Force Southern Border did not immediately respond to a request for more information Tuesday night.
The service members were assigned to the task force, which this year consolidated military command at the border after President Donald Trump tapped the defense budget for the effort.
In March, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered nearly 3,000 active-duty troops to amass at the U.S.-Mexico border as part of Trump’s effort to shut down immigration and drug traffic. The forces include elements of a Stryker brigade combat team and a general support aviation battalion, the Defense Department said.Â
Local authorities, including the Doña Ana County Sheriff’s Office, initially reported that the three service members had been taken to a hospital by helicopter, according to KTSM.
Images published by the station show parts of a vehicle off the roadway and down a decline.
The cause of the crash is under investigation, the joint task force said.
