Four vehicle accident closes checkpoint in Tubac Arizona

A shuttle van, tractor-trailer and two pickups collided while queuing up Wednesday at the Border Patrol checkpoint on I-19, sending two people to the hospital and temporarily closing the highway.

The accident occurred at 6:09 p.m., according to the Arizona Department of Public Safety, and a nine-member emergency response crew from the Tubac Fire District was dispatched to the scene five minutes later.

The paramedics attended to five patients, TFD Battalion Chief Genaro Rivera said. One was airlifted to a Tucson trauma center, one was transported by ground to Holy Cross Hospital in Nogales, and the other three declined additional medical treatment.

Rivera described the incident as a “rear-end type of collision.”
“The 18-wheeler was parked, getting checked, and the shuttle van was right behind him, then one truck was parked and then the other one came and hit all three of them,” he said.

The interstate was closed at the checkpoint as the paramedics attended to the victims and the medevac helicopter landed. One lane was re-opened at about 7 p.m. and the highway remained partially blocked until 8:32 p.m., DPS said.