US: 46 migrants found dead in tractor-trailer in Texas

At least 46 migrants were found dead Monday in and around a tractortrailer that was abandoned on the roadside on the outskirts of the Texas city of San AntonioThe grim discovery was one of the worst disasters involving migrants in the United States in recent years and came five years after a similar deadly incident in the same central Texas city a few hours from the Mexican borderAt this time we have processed approximately 46 bodies that have been triaged and tagged and declared deceased San Antonio Fire Chief Charles Hood told reportersHe said that 16 people had been transported to hospital alive and conscious 12 adults and four childrenThere were no initial details on the age or nationality of the deceasedThe patients that we saw were hot to the touch they were suffering from heat stroke heat exhaustion no signs of water in the vehicle it was a refrigerated tractortrailer but there was no visible working AC unit on that rig Hood saidOfficials said three people were in custody over the incidentTonight we are dealing with a horrific human tragedy San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg told a press conferenceSo I would urge you all to think compassionately and pray for the deceased the ailing the families he saidAnd we hope that those responsible for putting these people in such inhumane conditions are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the lawSan Antonio which lies some 250 kilometers 150 miles from the border is a major transit route for people smugglersIt has also been gripped by a recordbreaking recent heat wave and temperatures in the area hit 103 degrees Fahrenheit 395 Celsius on MondayThe vehicle was found on a road near Highway I35 a major US artery that stretches all the way to the border with MexicoA massive emergency operation was underway at the scene involving police firefighters and ambulancesAccording to San Antonio police chief William McManus authorities were first alerted by an emergency call at about 550 pmA worker who works in one of the buildings up here behind me heard a cry for help he told reporters came out to investigate found a trailer with the doors partially open opened them up to take a look and found a number of deceased individuals insideHe said the probe had been turned over to the federal Department of Homeland Security A better life Texas Governor Greg Abbott a Republican who advocates a tough line on immigration hit out at President Joe Biden over the disaster blaming the Democrats deadly open border policiesThese deaths are on Biden Abbott tweeted They show the deadly consequences of his refusal to enforce the lawMexicos foreign minister Marcelo Ebrard called the incident a tragedy and said the Mexican consul was headed to the siteEbrard said the nationalities of the victims were not yet known but that two Guatemalans were among the survivorsSan Antonio was the site of a similar migrant tragedy in 2017 when 10 people suffocated to death in a sweltering trailer with broken air conditioning and clogged ventilation holes as they traveled into the United StatesDozens more had been hospitalized with heat stroke and dehydration with the truck believed to have been holding as many as 200 people most of whom fled when it stopped in a parking lot The truck driver later pleaded guilty to charges related to the deathsLord have mercy on them They hoped for a better life tweeted Gustavo GarciaSiller the archbishop of San Antonio after news broke of Mondays awful discoveryOnce again the lack of courage to deal with immigration reform is killing and destroying lives