McAllen woman killed in Pharr bridge wreck

REYNOSA — A McAllen woman is dead after a head-on collision on the Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge.

Antonia Obregon Mendoza, 48, was killed after the Ford Explorer she was riding in collided with a pickup truck and a tractor-trailer Monday evening on the Mexican side of the bridge, said 1st Sgt. Luis Quintero of the Mexican federal police in Reynosa.

Authorities responded to the incident about 6:30 p.m. Monday. The collisions occurred at the 1.2-kilometer mark on the bridge, Quintero said.

The Explorer was traveling toward the United States when its driver, Asuncion Maldonado Martinez, apparently tried to pass a vehicle on the bridge and collided with a Chevrolet pickup truck with Tamaulipas plates, the police official said. Mexican authorities believe excessive speed may have caused the crash.

"Unfortunately, people take that (bridge) as a raceway," Quintero said in Spanish.

The SUV continued forward after the impact and collided head-on with a Kenworth tractor-trailer from Mexico.

Martinez, who shares a McAllen address with Mendoza, was taken to the Reynosa general hospital and remained in serious condition there Tuesday, Quintero said.

"It's surprising there wasn't more fatalities," said Jesse Medina, who manages the U.S. side of the bridge.

The Explorer was left in a mangled wreck on the bridge while authorities investigated the incident. The driver of the Chevrolet truck fled the crash scene, Quintero said.

"Maybe he got scared and just decided to leave," he said in Spanish.

Medina said U.S. officials helped direct traffic after they found out about the incident.

"It was a consequence of people disobeying traffic laws," he said of the crash.

The collisions caused no structural damage to bridge, Medina said.

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La Frontera staff writer Martha Leticia Hernandez contributed to this report.

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Jared Taylor covers law enforcement and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4439.