6/28/22 - Deadly Human Smuggling Case In Texas

A number of people were found in a tractor-trailer in Texas. Many died from heat stroke.

(SAN ANTONIO, Texas) - Authorities in Texas say that 46 people believed to be migrants were found dead in an abandoned tractor-trailer and 16 others were taken to hospitals Monday in a remote part of San Antonio.

The deaths were apparently the latest in what has become a series of mass deaths from suffocation or heat during human-trafficking attempts. 

A city worker heard a cry for help from the truck shortly before 6 p.m. Monday and discovered the scene.

San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg said the 46 who died had “families who were likely trying to find a better life and this is nothing short of a horrific human tragedy.” 

At least three people have been taken into custody but no word yet on if they were definitively connected with human trafficking.  

South Texas has long been the busiest area for illegal border crossings. Migrants ride in vehicles through Border Patrol checkpoints to San Antonio, the closest major city, from which point they disperse across the United States.

Officers arrived to find a body on the ground outside the trailer and a partially opened gate to the trailer. 

Of the 16 taken to hospitals with heat-related illnesses, 12 were adults and four were children, said Fire Chief Charles Hood. The patients were hot to the touch and dehydrated, and no water was found in the trailer, he said.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported 557 deaths on the southwest border in the 12-month period ending Sept. 30, more than double the 247 deaths reported in the previous year and the highest since it began keeping track in 1998. Most are related to heat exposure.