It is estimated that migrant smuggling was attempted in southern Texas on Monday, and at least 46 people were found dead in trailer trucks.
Another 16 people on the truck were taken to a hospital in San Antonio, confirmed police chief William McManus.
He also said that three individuals had been detained, but it is unclear if they were “absolutely involved in this.”
The cause of death of the victim has not yet been identified, but it was the suggested cause of extreme heat. Officials said the survivors were suffering from dehydration and heat stroke.
“The patients we saw were hot to the touch. They were suffering from heat stroke and fatigue,” fire chief Charles Hood said at a press conference. It was a refrigerated trailer, but the rig had no visible working AC units.
Texas is experiencing near-record heat waves, with temperatures in San Antonio reaching at least 103 degrees Fahrenheit on Monday.
Of the 16 survivors, 12 were adults and 4 were children, officials said.
The body bag is on Monday, June 27, 2022, when a tractor trailer with multiple corpses was found in San Antonio.
San Antonio police chief McManus said it was not possible to confirm that all the victims were found and that dog troops would be deployed in the morning to continue the search.
Onlookers are standing near the scene where a semi-trailer was discovered on Monday in South Texas.
The truck was found abandoned by an automatic demolition yard and railroad tracks around 6 pm by an individual working nearby.
“I heard a cry for help and came out to investigate,” McManus said. He said the individual found the trailer door partially open upon arrival.
McManus said it was not possible to confirm whether all the victims were found.
“We let the canines go through the woods, and we may have to do it again tomorrow in the sun,” he said.
“The plight of migrants seeking evacuation has always been a humanitarian crisis,” said Ron Nielenberg, Mayor of San Antonio. “But tonight we are tackling a horrific human tragedy.”
Hood explained that the firefighters were opening the truck and looking at the “mountain of the body” inside.
The truck was found abandoned on railroad tracks and a demolition yard by an individual working nearby.
Ambulances leave the scene where police said dozens of people were found dead in a semi-trailer in a remote area southwest of San Antonio
According to the New York Times, locals said the location where the truck was found was a known drop-off point for migrants.
‘You can tell them just get here. We see that we have a backpack or are asking for food and money, “53-year-old Ruby Chavez told The New York Times.
They know this area. They jump off the train and pick them up, “said Chavez’s husband.
This may be the deadliest tragedy of the thousands of people who have died trying to cross the border from Mexico to the United States in recent decades.
Ten immigrants died in 2017 after being trapped in a truck parked in Wal-Mart, San Antonio. In 2003, 19 immigrants were found on a sultry truck southeast of San Antonio.
Big rigs emerged as a popular smuggling method in the early 1990s amid the surge in US border security between San Diego and El Paso, Texas. These were the busiest corridors at the time at illegal intersections.
Prior to that, people paid moms and pop operators a small fee to cross the almost defenseless border.
After the terrorist attacks on the United States in 2001, crossing became exponentially difficult, and immigrants went through more dangerous terrain and paid more than a few thousand dollars.
Heat poses a serious danger, especially if the temperature inside the car can rise significantly.
Police block the scene. This may be the deadliest tragedy of the thousands of people who have died trying to cross the border from Mexico to the United States in recent decades.
Police block the scene where a semi-trailer with multiple corpses was found