Newsman: Fifty migrants are dead and dozen others were hospitalized after a tractor-trailer rig containing migrants was found on the city’s Southwest Side, San Antonio officials said.
Migrants believed to have died after they and others were found in sweltering conditions in a semitruck in San Antonio, a federal law enforcement official said Tuesday, in a scene the mayor called a “horrific human tragedy.”The death toll, which the city’s fire chief gave Monday as 46, includes migrants from Mexico, Guatemala and HondurasTheir discovery Monday comes as US federal authorities have launched an “unprecedented” operation to disrupt human smuggling networks amid an influx of migrants at the US-Mexico border.
Mexican foreign Minister Mercelo Ebrard said on Tuesday that 50 people were dead including at least 22 Mexican, seven from Guatemala and two from Honduras.At least 19 others who died had not been identified. Mexico and Honduras will join investigation in the US according to their official statements which are being coordinated by t he US department of homeland security.
“It’s tragic,” said San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg. “They had families… and were likely trying to find a better life. It’s nothing short of a horrific human tragedy.”
“We hope that those responsible for putting these people through such inhumane conditions are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” Nirenberg said.
Authorities said it was the largest mass casualty event they’ve seen in San Antonio. Officials would not immediately confirm if the victims were migrants or what country they were from. The Mexican secretary of external relations tweeted Monday night that the 46 people died of asphixiation, and at least two of the people in the trailer were from Guatemala.
San Antonio Police Chief William McManus said officers received a call 10 minutes before 6 p.m. Monday to the 9600 block of Quintana Road when a person working nearby heard a cry for help.
Crews with San Antonio Fire Department arrived at the scene to find “stacks of bodies” in the trailer and many people too weak to let themselves out, according to SAFD Chief Charles Hood. When the worker approached, saw several bodies inside an 18-wheeler trailer with its doors partially open.
Hood said 46 people, men and women who ranged from teens to young adults, were pronounced dead at the scene.
He said they died from heat stroke and heat exhaustion as the trailer had no air conditioning and no water. Temperatures reached more than 100 degrees on Monday.
First responders helped 16 people — 12 adults and four minors — out of the trailer. Hood said they were hot to the touch.
The survivors were rushed to local hospitals with heat-related injuries, Hood said.
Ten medic units were used to transport the survivors. Hood said 60 members of the SAFD will undergo behavioral assessments after responding to the scene.
Overall, he said the response “went very smoothly and very quickly.”
HSI officials released the following statement on Monday night:
“On June 27, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) responded to a call from San Antonio Police Department (SAPD) in reference to an alleged human smuggling event involving a tractor trailer on Quintana Road near Cassin Road. Upon arrival in the scene, HSI confirmed more than 40 deceased individuals.
HSI San Antonio has initiated an investigation with support of SAPD. Details will be released as they are available, the criminal investigation remains ongoing.
HSI continues its enforcement efforts to ensure the safety and well-being of our communities. We will continue to address the serious public safety threat posed by human smuggling organizations and their reckless disregard for the health and safety of those smuggled. To report suspicious activity, we encourage people to call the HSI Tip Line at 1-866-DHS-2ICE. All calls are kept confidential.”
