Why stupid people shouldn't breed

This happened just this weekend in Columbia, MO. It's pretty sad but it makes me so damned irrate at the same time, talk about some mixed emotions. Oh, if the name Lana Jacobs looks familiar, well, she is the pain tin the ass woman who during the Terri Schiavo case tried to bring her water during her last days and got arrested for it, and inadvertantly received national coverage which I am sure she loved.

Van in Fatal Crash Packed
with Immigrants

"I don't think they know they're risking their lives. They're just desperate for their families."
Lana Jacobs
St. Francis House
Watch Monday's Story
Watch Sunday's Story
A van full of migrant workers that rashed on Interstate 70, killing five and injuring a dozen, was headed toward the East Coast, where the passengers hoped to find better work.

The van carrying 20 people skidded and overturned early Sunday on I-70 near Rocheport.

17 passengers were thrown from the van, and none was wearing a seat belt, the Missouri State Highway Patrol said. Some passengers said the driver fell asleep.

The van apparently was carrying people from Los Angeles to destinations including New York, Maryland and North Carolina.

Some survivors told the Columbia Daily Tribune on Monday that they had trusted a man in Los Angeles, who didn't give his name but collected $500 from each person to organize the trip and provide food.

But some crash survivors said they received only water on the trip, and paid for their own food.

Victims' Names

Several occupants were from Central America, but the patrol said it did not know all the passengers' identities or hometowns.

Four men and one woman died in the crash. Only one of the five deceased victims was identified: Julio Lopez-Luna, whose age and hometown were unknown.

At least 10 occupants of the van were still hospitalized Monday at University Hospital and Columbia Regional Medical Center.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were sent to determine if some of the occupants were illegal immigrants and whether they were being smuggled across the United States, said agency spokesman Carl Rusnok.

Lana Jacobs works at St. Francis House, a Roman Catholic homeless shelter in Columbia, which took in three of the occupants Sunday. By Monday, they had moved on.

But Jacobs said in her conversations with them, through a Spanish-speaking interpreter, she understood they were from Guatemala, near the Mexican border, and were headed to North Carolina for work.

"My sense is they had not been in the country before," she said.

Jacobs also said she understands authorities want to catch those who sneak people into the country, but said they should focus their efforts on companies who recruit those people to work.

"It's just so tragic. I understand going after the smugglers, but why isn't the government going after these businesses doing this?" she said. "I'm just always amazed when especially these really young risk their lives. I don't think they know they're risking their lives. They're just desperate for their families."

Many travelers did not know each other and had different destinations, said Andrade, who suffered a fractured hip and leg injuries. She hopes to reach her aunt's house in New York City if she can find the money.

Andrade traveled from her home in El Salvador to her uncle's home in Los Angeles nine months ago. She worked to keep her uncle's apartment clean after failing to find a job in Los Angeles

Fellow passenger Erik de Leon asked Lopez whether he would be deported, but Lopez told him not to be afraid. De Leon said he was headed to Maryland to find a construction job. He also was asleep during the accident and became trapped.

"When I awoke, I saw all the people, and I said, `Why God is this happening to us?'" he said.

The highway patrol said the 2001 Chevrolet van was eastbound on I-70 when it drove onto the road's right shoulder. The driver apparently overcorrected, and the van skidded across both lanes into the median, causing the van to overturn several times. Seventeen of the vehicle's occupants were ejected.

The accident occurred nearly four months after a truck carrying 16 migrant workers from Mexico crashed on Interstate 70, about 40 miles east of Columbia. One man was killed and four seriously injured in that accident.