THE CANADIAN PRESS

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EDMONTON - Two families were on their way to Alberta from Mexico, "driving day and night" to get back for medical appointments, when their SUV crashed on a Colorado highway, says a relative.

Police in Colorado say Jacob Rempel, Sr., 42, Susana Rempel, 40, Jacob Rempel Jr., 16, all of Vauxhall, Alta.; Susana Rempel, 30, Johan Rempel, 3, and 21-month-old Heinrich Rempel, all of Willingdon, Alta. and Joseph Dick, 33, of Taber, Alta. died in the fiery crash.

The Chevy Suburban plunged off an overpass and sailed about 15 metres before it hit a concrete embankment and burst into flames.

Abram Rempel says his brother, Jacob Sr., and his wife Susana and son Jacob Jr., had brought some vehicles to Mexico, where his parents and his other five brothers and sister live.

His sister-in-law, Susana, 30, "wanted to see her parents", Abram said, and Dick was driving one of the other vehicles on the way down.

They could only stay a few days, and Jacob Sr. and his wife had medical appointments to keep as well.

"They were driving day and night trying to get back for their medical appointments," Abram said, noting there were five drivers in the vehicle.

"I guess the driver fell asleep."

He said no one knows who was driving at the time.

Now, family members in Mexico are scrambling to get passports so they can fly back to Alberta for the funerals, Abram said.

"It's hard," he said.

His brother, Isaac, is grieving the loss of his wife, Susana, and their two little boys, Heinrich and Johan.

"One of them just started talking," said Abram.

He added funeral arrangements won't be finalized until travel arrangements are set for the family members in Mexico.

Colorado State Trooper David Hall called the crash an "awful, awful tragedy."

He added it was made worse because it happened on the American Thanksgiving Day.

"This is really hard for the people on the scene. They took it really tough."

Investigators are now trying to narrow down the factors that may have caused the wreck.

"We look at any number of contributing factors: alcohol, drugs, speed, weather," said Hall. "We have ruled out weather as the cause of this crash."

The SUV crossed a median and veered off Interstate 25 at around 4:30 a.m. The fire and the impact of the crash left the vehicle burned and crushed.

One veteran state trooper described it as one of the worst accidents he had ever seen. A driver's licence found in the wreckage could not be matched to any of the victims.

Carol Woelfle, a cashier at the Johnson's Corner restaurant near the crash site, said she saw the smoldering SUV on her way to work.

"It was awfully tragic," she told a local reporter.