San Antonio, Texas, June 29 (BNA) At least 51 immigrants have died after getting trapped inside an overheated tractor-trailer truck found abandoned in Texas, authorities said, as charges were brought against two Mexican nationals linked to the unprecedented smuggling tragedy in the United States. . court.
The dead immigrants, 39 men and 12 women, mostly from Mexico, were found Monday in an industrial estate on the outskirts of San Antonio, Texas, about 160 miles (250 km) north of the US-Mexico border, according to Reuters. reports.
The incident represents the largest loss of life ever recorded from attempted human trafficking in the United States, according to Craig Larrabee, acting special agent in charge of the investigative arm of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Local authorities described finding the trailer’s tailgate open with “piles of corpses” inside, while others were scattered and collapsed nearby. They said some of the victims were hot to the touch.
Two suspects, Juan Francisco Delona Bilbao and Juan Claudio Delona Mendes, both Mexican citizens, have been charged with illegal possession of firearms while in the United States, according to court documents and US authorities.
Investigators traced the truck’s vehicle registration to an address in San Antonio they placed under surveillance, and arrested the two men separately when they were both seen leaving the house.
A Mexican official said a third suspect, described as a US citizen who was driving the truck, was also detained and charges were expected, but remained in hospital until Tuesday evening.
The truck was left parked next to some railroad tracks as temperatures soared to 103 F (39.4 C). Local authorities said there were no signs of water or visible means of air conditioning inside the truck.
It’s unspeakable,” San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg said on MSNBC, noting that his community is dependent on immigrants in the midst of a labor shortage. “It is an inexplicable tragedy.”
US President Joe Biden, in a statement on Tuesday, described the incident as “horrific and heartbreaking.”
“The exploitation of vulnerable individuals for profit is shameful,” Biden said, vowing to crack down on the multibillion-dollar criminal smuggling companies that have helped fuel a record number of migrant crossings at the US-Mexico border since taking office in January 2021.
At least 27 Mexicans, three Guatemalans and four Hondurans are believed to be among the dead, according to officials from the three countries. There was no immediate information on the nationality of the other victims.
More than a dozen survivors were taken to area hospitals for heat stroke and exhaustion, including four minors.
At a news conference outside a hospital on Tuesday, Bexar County Democratic official Rebecca Clay Flores sharply criticized Republican Governor Greg Abbott for a Monday night tweet blaming Biden’s border policies for the crash even as the emergency emerged.
“While the bodies were still being removed, and others taken to local hospitals, he chose to be heartless and point the finger,” Clay Flores said.
The truck may have been carrying about 100 migrants, but the exact number remained unclear, according to local and federal officials briefed on the investigation.
The migrants appeared to have recently crossed the border and were taken by truck to be taken to where they would work, according to a Mexican official, a US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) official and another US official, all of whom requested anonymity to discuss the matter.
Officials said authorities were alerted to the truck by an emergency 911 call from a bystander who was reported to seek help by an immigrant who escaped from the truck.
Officials said the victims were found sprayed with a pungent substance, a practice some smugglers are known to use to mask the scent of human goods and avoid detection by dogs.
San Antonio Police Chief William McManus said Monday that someone working in a nearby building heard a scream for help, went out to investigate, found the trailer doors partially open and saw a number of bodies inside.
A CBP official and two other law enforcement officials told Reuters that surviving immigrants will likely be released to the United States to seek asylum or other forms of humanitarian relief. Some survivors of human trafficking in the past have been taken to US custody to testify as witnesses. Read more
Migration Challenges
The deaths have highlighted the challenge of controlling migrant crossings for Biden, a Democrat who took office and pledged to overturn some of his Republican predecessor Donald Trump’s hard-line immigration policies. Republicans criticized Biden’s border strategy ahead of the November congressional elections.
I-35 near where the truck was found runs through San Antonio from the Mexican border and is a popular smuggling lane due to the high volume of truck traffic, according to Jack Staton, a retired former senior ICE investigative unit official. in December.
In July 2017, 10 immigrants died after being transported in a tractor-trailer discovered by San Antonio police in a Walmart parking lot. The driver was later sentenced to life imprisonment for his role in the smuggling operation.
Dozens of people crowded under a garden pavilion on a rainy Tuesday evening for a vigil in honor of those lost in Monday’s accident.
Jessica Azua, a community organizer, told the crowd about how she lost consciousness when she was brought to the United States at age 14 in the back of a tractor trailer.