Person dies in road accident after fleeing ICE agents in Florida

A person died after fleeing on foot from an encounter involving agents from the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency in the state of Florida, authorities said. The person was struck and killed by a tractor-trailer after running from agents at a petrol station car park early on Tuesday, the Florida Highway Patrol said, citing preliminary findings. Three other occupants of the vehicle also fled, it said. The incident occurred near the city of St Augustine, a popular tourist destination. A spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security told dpa that the person who died was a Mexican national. The spokesman referred to a law enforcement operation but did not specifically mention ICE. According to the highway patrol, ICE and Homeland Security Investigations, a division of the department responsible for cross-border crime, were involved in the operation. The circumstances remained unclear. Two other people have died in recent days in incidents involving ICE. An ICE officer shot dead a Mexican immigrant during an operation in Houston, Texas. A similar incident later occurred in the north-eastern state of Maine, leaving another person dead. Local civil rights groups identified the person killed in Maine as a 26-year-old Colombian man who had a US work permit. ICE operations are part of US President Donald Trump's strict deportation policy. The agency came under intense criticism earlier this year over immigration raids in which some officers wore face coverings. In January, federal agents shot and killed US citizens Renée Good and Alex Pretti. The actions of the officers sparked widespread outrage across the country. The handling of the cases has also come under criticism, with video footage of the operations raising doubts about the agency's account of the incidents.