At least 42 migrants have been found dead in a tractor-trailer in Texas in what appears to be one of the deadliest recent incidents of people smuggling along the US-Mexico border.
Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard called the suffocation of the migrants in San Antonio the “tragedy in Texas” on Twitter and said the local consulate was on its way to the scene. However, the victims’ nationalities were unknown Monday (local time). Was confirmed. †
A US law enforcement official said more than 40 people were killed without providing additional details. Another 16 people, including four children, have been taken to local hospitals.
“It’s probably close [to] 100 in the truck,” a law enforcement source told the San Antonio Express-News, adding that “about half” of the group was likely dead.
The truck was found next to the tracks in a remote area on the city’s southern outskirts, San Antonio’s KSAT television reported.
“A worker who works in one of the buildings behind me heard a cry for help. Came out to investigate and found a trailer with the doors partially open and found several people dead,” a police spokesman said later.
The discovery sparked a huge police response, with first responders with thermal imagers lining the tracks, apparently looking for more people.
Police have arrested three people, though they warned that they were not “absolutely aware” whether they were involved in the tragic discovery.
A San Antonio Fire Department spokesman said about 60 firefighters were involved in the rescue, which he described as a “triage mass casualty.” Ten medical units transported the 16 patients to the hospital.
“The patients we saw were hot to the touch. They suffered from heat stroke and heat exhaustion. No traces of water in the vehicle. It was a refrigerated tractor-trailer, but there was no working AC unit on that rig,” he said.
A KSAT-12 reporter called the situation “a potential human smuggling case” in a tweet as she went to the crime scene.
San Antonio police were also looking for the truck driver, who had apparently abandoned the vehicle before it was discovered, The New York Times reported.
A US Customs and Border Protection spokeswoman said federal agents arrived at the site Monday evening.
A record number of migrants have crossed the US-Mexico border in recent months, sparking criticism of the immigration policies of US Democrat Joe Biden.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a Republican, blamed Mr. Biden’s policies for the deaths, saying on Twitter that they were “showing the deadly consequences of his refusal to enforce the law”.
The San Antonio Police Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Temperatures in San Antonio, about 250 kilometers from the Mexican border, rose to 39.4 degrees on Monday with high humidity.
In July 2017, 10 migrants died after being transported in a tractor-trailer discovered by San Antonio police in a retail parking lot.
The driver, James Matthew Bradley, Jr., was sentenced to life in prison the following year for his role in the smuggling operation.
