Forty-six people were discovered dead, and 16 others were taken to hospital after being found inside a tractor-trailer rig on June 27, 2022, on a remote back road in southwest San Antonio, Texas, officials have confirmed. The discovery may be suspected to be the deadliest tragedy among thousands who have died intending to cross the US border from Mexico. The article contains At Least 46 Dead Bodies Found in Texas Trailer Truck.
A city worker at the scene was alerted by a cry for help shortly before 6 pm on the day, Police Chief William McManus told. According to fire chief Charles Hood, sixteen were taken to hospital with heat-related illnesses, of which 12 were adults, and four were children. He said the patients were hot to the touch and dehydrated, and no water was found in the trailer.
Mexico’s Foreign Minister said two people from Guatemala were among those sent to the hospital. Relaying information from the Mexican consul in San Antonio, Marcelo Ebrard, said the survivors had been taken to four hospitals around the city. Mr. McManus said that three people were taken into custody, but it was unclear if they were connected to human trafficking. Mr. McManus noted that those in the trailer were part of a presumed smuggling attempt for those attempting to enter the United States, and US Homeland Security Investigations led the investigation.
The general Mexican consulate in San Antonio tweeted that it would provide aid to any Mexicans involved in the incident. It also said consul general Ruben Minutti was on his way to the scene.
Governor Greg Abbott said the people were found in the back of a truck and blamed the deaths on political division and how borders are secured.
The mayor of San Antonio, Ron Nirenberg, said the 46 dead people had families who were likely trying to find a better life. He added, “This is nothing short of a horrific human tragedy,” Mr. Nirenberg said. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas said he was heartbroken by the tragic loss of life” in San Antonio. He also confirmed that US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) had launched a federal investigation into the deaths, with the support of local police and the border force. The city has been the scene of previous migrant deaths. Ten people died in 2017 after being trapped inside a truck that was parked at a Walmart in San Antonio. In 2003, 19 others were found in a sweltering truck southeast of San Antonio.
Big rigs emerged as a popular smuggling method in the early 1990s amid a surge in US border enforcement in San Diego and El Paso, Texas, which were the busiest corridors for illegal crossings. Prior to that, people paid small fees to mom-and-pop operators to get them across a largely unguarded border. As crossing became exponentially more difficult after the 2001 terror attacks in the US, individuals were led through more dangerous terrain and paid more.
Heat poses a danger because temperatures can rise steeply inside vehicles. The weather in the San Antonio area was mainly cloudy, but temperatures approached 100F.
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