Seven farmworkers traveling in a van and the driver of a pickup truck were killed in a head-on collision in an agricultural area in central California, police said Friday.
The 6:15 a.m. crash left the van almost completely crumpled in flowering almond trees near the town of Madera, about 40 miles outside Fresno, California Highway Patrol Trooper Javier Ruvalcaba said. Told.
Ruvalcaba said one farm worker who was sitting in the back of the van survived and was taken to the hospital.
Ruvalcaba said he expects to recover.
Only two of the farm workers were wearing seatbelts.
“If the passenger in the back seat had been wearing his seat belt, he probably would have survived,” Ruvalcaba said.
Ruvalcaba said witnesses told police a black pickup truck swerved on a rural two-lane highway and collided head-on with the van.
“At this time, we do not know if alcohol or drugs were a factor,” he said.
Ruvalcaba said farmworkers were pruning about eight miles from the vineyard when the accident occurred.
The van was headed to the farming community of Firebaugh, known for its vineyards and fields of tomatoes, garlic, asparagus and other vegetables.
