2 dead, 3 injured in fiery I-10 crash involving prisoner transport van, MHP says

A collision between a truck and inmate transport van killed two people and injured three others Wednesday morning on Interstate 10 near Ocean Springs, authorities said.

The two-vehicle crash caught the van on fire, according to Landon Orozco, a spokesperson for the Mississippi Highway Patrol. He said the transport van came from a detention center in Florida.

Authorities said two inmates and two officers were inside the van. One person was driving the truck.

The crash killed an officer and an inmate, according to the transport company. The officer was a young father. The inmate was facing fraud charges and was being extradited to Georgia. Authorities had not released the victims names by Wednesday evening.

The other officer and inmate were hospitalized in critical condition, the company said. The Highway Patrol said the truck driver was also injured.

The Highway Patrol responded to the crash at 9:30 a.m. near Exit 50 to Ocean Springs. The collision blocked the exit and several westbound lanes for hours on Wednesday, and led to extended traffic backups.

The van was operated by a private company called St. Joseph Services, which contracts with law enforcement agencies to extradite inmates around the country.

Tony Seitez, a contract manager at the company, said the van was heading to the Harrison County jail to retrieve an inmate facing charges in Georgia. The two inmates inside the van came from detention centers in Brevard County and Columbia County, Florida. The company was transporting them to Georgia and New Jersey to face charges, Seitez said.

Neither inmate was accused of violent charges, according to Seitez. They were shackled and handcuffed in a compartment separate from the officers.

This story was originally published February 18, 2026 at 9:57 AM.