Two dead, several hospitalized after driver careens into Matamoros bike tour

MATAMOROS -- A Brownsville man and another person are dead and at least five people remain hospitalized at a number of Rio Grande Valley hospitals after being struck by a car as the group, along with other cyclists participated in the third annual Bike Tour Matamoros-Playa Bagdad Sunday morning.

At least two deaths have been confirmed. Alejandro Alvarez, 34, of Brownsville, and a second person both died, the Mexican news outlet Tamaulipas enlinea.com reported in its online edition Monday.

Edgar Omar Castro, 14, Miguel Gonzalez, Alejandro Martinez and Rolando Loriqute, along with another person, remained listed in conditions ranging from good to critical at Valley Baptist Medical Centers in Brownsville and Harlingen, VBMC spokeswoman Teri Retana confirmed late Sunday night.

Castro, at VBMC-Harlingen, had been upgraded to serious, but stable condition Monday afternoon. Two men at VBMC-Brownsville were in stable condition.

The group, along with others participants in the bike race shortly, were struck by Jesse Lopez, 29, who drove a 1989 Gran Marquis. Lopez was driving drunk and under the influence of drugs, Matamoros newspapers reported in their Monday editions.

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