They found 46 dead and 16 injured migrants inside a truck on the Texas-Mexico border. Photo by AP / Eric Gay.
suffocated by the heat intense inside the garage of a truck, which was parked on the side of a highway on the outskirts of San Antonio, more precisely on the border between the United States and Mexico, 46 people died and another 16, including four children, were transferred to different hospitals.
“The patients we saw were hot to the touch, suffering from sunburn, heat exhaustion: there was no trace of water in the vehicle. It was a refrigerated truck, but there was no evidence that there was a working air conditioner, “said the San Antonio Fire Chief. charles hood.
While not providing specifics regarding the nationality of the fatal victims or the number of minors traveling in the vehicle, the mayor of San Antonio, Ron Nirenberg, explained that they were migrants.
“It’s a tragedy. There are 46 people who had families and were looking for a better life“, he complained at a press conference, while he said that federal authorities have already begun to investigate the crime.
They found 46 dead and 16 injured migrants inside a truck on the Texas-Mexico border. Photo AFP / Jordan Vonderhaar.
“I hope those responsible for the inclusion of these people subhuman conditions be damned, “he asked.
In this sense, Three people linked to the incident were arrested.as confirmed by the head of the San Antonio Police Department, William McManus.
For the time being, the Mexican consulate in San Antonio has reported that it will provide support to all “Mexican citizens, if any”.
They found 46 dead and 16 injured migrants inside a truck on the Texas-Mexico border. Photo REUTERS / Kaylee Greenlee Bael.
Temperatures reached Monday in San Antonio 40 degrees and authorities don’t know how long the victims spent inside the truck, which was abandoned by its driver minutes before police found it.
The dangers of crossing the southern border of the United States
Thousands of people have died trying to cross the southern border of the United States in the past few decades.. To name a few tragedies, ten lost their lives in 2017 inside a truck parked at a Walmart in San Antonio. Earlier in 2003, 19 migrants were found inside a truck in high temperatures southeast of that city.
Trucks have become a popular method of smuggling in the early 1990s, following increased border enforcement in San Diego and El Paso, Texas, which at the time were the busiest corridors for migrants illegally entering the United States.
Before that, people paid small fees to makeshift operators to help them cross the border, which was less guarded at the time. After crossings became more difficult following the 2001 terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers, migrants were driven out more dangerous regions and began making payments of thousands of dollars.
Heat is a serious danger., especially when temperatures rise inside vehicles. The weather in the San Antonio area on Monday was mostly cloudy, but temperatures were still approaching 37 degrees.
With information from EFE and AP.
IS
Source: Clarin
