Dozens of People Found Dead in A Truck in San Antonio, Texas

By Staff, Agencies

At least 46 people have been found dead inside a tractor-trailer in San Antonio, Texas, in what appears to be a human smuggling attempt along the United States-Mexico border.

San Antonio Fire Chief Charles Hood said 16 other people found in the trailer on Monday were transported to the hospital for heat stroke and exhaustion. They included four minors.

“The patients we saw were hot to the touch. They were suffering from heat stroke, heat exhaustion. There were no signs of water in the vehicle,” he said.

“It was a refrigerated tractor-trailer, but there was no visible air conditioning unit on that rig.”

Police Chief William McManus said a city worker at the scene was alerted to the situation by a cry for help shortly before 6pm on Monday [23:00 GMT]. Officers arrived to find a body on the ground outside the trailer and a partially opened gate to the trailer, he said.

The vehicle was found next to railway tracks in a remote area on the city’s southern outskirts, and McManus said three people were taken into custody over the incident.

Mexico’s Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard called the suffocation of the refugees and migrants a “tragedy in Texas” and said the local consulate was en route to the scene.

He said two Guatemalans were among the victims and that the trailer had fake European Union plates.

Monday’s disaster may be one of the deadliest incidents of human smuggling along the US-Mexico border in recent decades.

Ten people died in 2017 after being trapped inside a truck that was parked at a Walmart in San Antonio, while in 2003, 19 people were found dead in a sweltering truck southeast of the city.

Temperatures in San Antonio, which is about 260 km [160 miles] from the Mexican border, swelled to a high of 39.4C [103F] on Monday with high humidity.

San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg called Monday’s incident a “horrific human tragedy”.

“They had families and were likely trying to find a better life,” he said. “We hope those responsible for putting people through such inhumane conditions are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”