New York, Europe Brief News – At least 46 people have been found dead in an abandoned truck in Texas.
16 people, including four children, are receiving treatement at hospital, security sources said.
The survivors were “hot to the touch” and suffering from heat stroke and heat exhaustion.
San Antonio, which is 250km (150 miles) from the US-Mexico 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.
“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.”
“A worker of one of the buildings back here heard a cry for help. He went out to investigate, found a trailer with the doors ajar, opened them to look and found several deceased people inside,” said San Antonio Police Chief William McManus.
He added that three people are in custody, although their involvement in the tragedy is not yet clear. The incident is the subject of a federal investigation led by the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Mexico’s foreign minister, Marcelo Ebrard, said two Guatemalans were among those taken to hospital. The nationalities of the other victims were not initially clear.
The United States is breaking records for illegal immigration, compounded by this tragedy just 250 kilometres from the Mexican border. Immigration is an issue of concern in the US. Last year, a record number of undocumented immigrants were apprehended crossing into the country from Mexico. Many of them were also travelling through very dangerous routes.
