2 service members dead after vehicle crashes near NM Border Patrol station

(KTSM) — Two service members were killed and a third seriously injured in a crash on Tuesday morning in Santa Teresa, New Mexico, according to U.S. Northern Command on behalf of Joint Task Force-Southern Border. The crash occurred just before 9 a.m. MDT on Tuesday morning. The Doña Ana County Sheriff’s Office had said Tuesday that all three victims were airlifted to a hospital shortly afterward. U.S. Northern Command later confirmed the death of two of the victims. The third service member involved in the accident was still hospitalized in critical condition as of Tuesday night. The names of the deceased will be released once their "next of kin is notified," U.S. Northern Command wrote in a news release issued Tuesday night. Further details of the accident, including the affiliation of the service members or the circumstances surrounding the accident, were not made available in the release. The crash is currently under investigation. The three service members were deployed to the U.S.-Mexico border as part of Joint Task Force-Southern Border, a task force launched in March 2025 to "to tactically synchronize Department of Defense (DOD) efforts to secure and seal the southern border." U.S. Northern Command has also previously issued a list of Army units that had prepared to deploy ahead of the launch of the task force. "In all, about 1,140 additional military members will support the southern border mission," a spokesperson said at the time.