PENITAS, Texas (AP) - A pickup truck crammed with as many as 25 people crashed into an SUV near the Texas-Mexico border today.

Three people were killed and at least nine others were hurt in what authorities believe was an illegal immigrant smuggling attempt.

The wreck happened before dawn on U.S. Highway 83 in the small Valley town of Penitas (peh-NEE'-tuhs), about 15 miles west of McAllen. The highway is the main east-west traffic artery in the lower Rio Grande Valley,

The interim police chief of Penitas, David Harris says "there were bodies all over the place." Border Patrol spokesman Oscar Saldana said his agency had three suspected illegal immigrants in custody.

Harris says the driver ran off, but he's believed to be injured.

Some survivors told police they had been hurried into the back of the truck and had not been riding long before the accident.

Joe Cantu is the police spokesman in neighboring La Joya. He says the area's a major immigrant-smuggling corridor, and that there's been a recent influx of immigrants from Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala. Cantu says most of those involved in this accident are believed to be Mexican.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

AP-NY-03-27-08 1211EDT