Bodies of at least 46 people believed to be migrants who crossed into the United States from Mexico were found dead on Monday in a truck that had been abandoned on the outskirts of San Antonio, state and city officials said.
Sixteen (16) others, including children, were taken to hospitals alive but suffering from heat exhaustion and apparent dehydration. The deaths occurred during an apparent human smuggling attempt along the US Mexico border. San Antonio, which is 250km (150 miles) from the USMexican border, is a major transit route for people smugglers.
Human traffickers often use trucks to transport undocumented migrants after meeting them in remote areas once they have managed to cross into the United States. This appeared to be one of the worst episodes of migrant death in the United States in recent years.
“They had families and were likely trying to find a better life,” San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg said. “It’s nothing short of a horrific, human tragedy.” 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.
Officers arrived to find a body on the ground outside the trailer and a partially opened door of the truck. McManus said three people were taken into custody over the incident, he noted that authorities aren’t certain they’re connected to the situation.
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The incident is now under federal investigation. The number of people migrating globally has steadily risen in the past two decades as poverty, climate change and violence have led people to flee their homelands. The death toll of deceased migrants found inside a truck in Texas has risen to 50, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Tuesday.
“I want to offer my condolences to the relatives of this catastrophe,” Lopez Obrador said. Lopez Obrador said he will meet with US President Joe Biden in Washington DC on July 12 and migration will be a central issue in their discussions.
Mexico Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said on Twitter on Tuesday that 22 Mexicans, seven Guatemalans and two Hondurans were identified among the dead. There was no information on the citizenship of the other 19, Mexican officials added.
The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said that its Homeland Security Investigations division was conducting a criminal investigation into “an alleged human smuggling event” in coordination with local police.
