Morning crash mystery in Tijuana

At about 6:30 a.m. on May 31, I heard six to eight loud bangs outside my apartment in Tijuana’s Zona Centro. I immediately got up and walked out to my balcony.

A red taxi van was upside down on Negrete near 8th Street. I knew the accident was bad. I saw a male passenger from the taxi van run out and yell, “¡Mi mochila! ¡Mi mochila" (my backpack). He sat on the curb.

A passenger bus (a route taxi as well) had come to a stop near the curb, apparently part of the collision. I then grabbed my camera and ran downstairs. By the time I arrived I saw bodies on the street — they were injured but alive. Others were walking around with lacerations and bruises.

I then noticed a lifeless male body on the sidewalk. He was a bystander who was killed instantly. Not sure which vehicle(s) hit him. As I moved across the street, I saw there was a car at the rear of the passenger bus. Firefighters used the “jaws of life” on the car to free someone trapped inside.

A woman on the scene told me there were two people who had died. I then talked to an officer who said there was one person who had passed away. A neighbor of mine later told me the female driver of the car died after she was taken to the hospital.

A couple of eyewitnesses were unsure of who or what caused the accident.