U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is conducting a human smuggling investigation after 13 people were killed Tuesday morning as an SUV filled with 25 suspected undocumented immigrants collided with a semi-truck in Southern California, according to an announcement by ICE.

The crash occurred on State Route 115 in the area of El Centro, 10 miles north of the US-Mexico border, at around 6:15am local time, authorities said.

The SUV collided with a big rig and left bodies scattered across a roadway near the U.S. Mexico border on Tuesday, a Border Patrol official told Fox News.

“Special agents from Homeland Security Investigations San Diego responded … and have initiated a human smuggling investigation,” ICE said in a statement.

California Highway Patrol Chief Omar Watson said it was clear that the overpacked vehicle caused “numerous” passengers to be ejected after the collision.

“Obviously that vehicle was not meant for that many people,” Watson said in a press conference. “It’s unfortunate that that number of people were put into that vehicle because there’s not enough safety restraints to safely keep those people within the vehicle.”

California police officers announced 12 people dead at the scene and another person died at a local hospital, authorities said. The remaining eight victims with injuries were transported to local hospitals.

“Some of the walking wounded were able to pull themselves out of the vehicle,” Watson said. “Once personnel arrived on the scene, some were wandering around and some of them had already passed away.”

“It was a pretty chaotic scene,” Watson added.

The passengers in the vehicle ranged in ages from 15 to 53, according to Watson.

Dr. Adolphe Edward, the chief executive of the El Centro hospital, said he believed the passengers were “undocumented migrants,” according to a report by The New York Times.

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