Big rig accident shuts down Texas-Mexico bridge

Big rig accident shuts down Texas-Mexico bridge Two large trucks crashed and burst into flames Thursday night on the Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge between the United States and Mexico, killing four people and shutting down the border crossing, according to news reports from the area.
   The trucks were traveling in the opposite direction when they hit a van, killing its driver.
   The collision trigged a chain-reaction accident with three other vehicles, police said. A pickup truck flipped off the bridge, killing three Mexican nationals and injuring six. The two tractor-trailers appeared to have Mexican license plates, police said.
   The 3.2-mile-long bridge connects U.S. 281 in Pharr, Texas, to the city of Reynosa. The bridge, which has one southbound lane and three northbound lanes, is Texas’ fourth-largest commercial vehicle crossing with Mexico. About 1,700 inbound and 1,600 outbound trucks cross the bridge each day.
   The crossing from Pharr to the Mexican side is normally open from 6 a.m. to midnight. Officials plan to keep the bridge closed until 8 a.m. and possibly longer, according to McAllen, Texas, newspaper The Monitor.