A federal official says the driver of a vehicle that crashed and killed six illegal immigrants in Southern California has been arrested for smuggling.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Lauren Mack says the driver was arrested Sunday at a hotel in Brawley. She says he is a Mexican citizen who claims to be a juvenile.

She says the crash happened Friday night about 125 miles east of San Diego and 15 miles north of the border.

Witnesses reported that 22 Mexicans were packed into the sport utility vehicle. Four were hospitalized and three are being held as material witnesses.

Mack says that five were returned to Mexico and that the others fled. Among the survivors was a 12-year-old girl whose mother, father and younger brother were killed.