Eight people, including Honduran migrants, died Wednesday in the state of Texas (southern USA) in a traffic accident during a police chase of a man suspected of being a trafficker, authorities said.

The driver who caused the fatal accident was carrying five undocumented immigrants and tried to escape from police near the city of Batesville, about a hundred kilometers from the border with Mexico, an official of the public security services in Texas explained to AFP.

While trying to overtake, he collided with another car, as a result of which the two were killed while riding it, the same source added. The suspect and his five passengers were also killed, he continued, clarifying that among the victims were irregular migrants from Honduras.

After Joe Biden assumed the presidency of the United States, U.S. authorities have pushed back about six million along the southern border with Mexico.

A year before the presidential elections are held in November 2024, the issue of immigration continues to cause intense political controversy in the USwith Republicans continuing to accuse the governing Democrats of how they have turned the border into a strainer.