- US authorities launched a criminal investigation Tuesday after 50 migrants died in a suffocating trailer in Texas.
- Sixteen people, including four children, were taken to the hospital suffering from extreme dehydration.
- San Antonio, which lies 250 kilometers (150 miles) from the border, is a major transit route for human smugglers as well as tens of thousands of migrants who cross the border.
US authorities launched a criminal investigation Tuesday after 50 migrants died in a suffocating trailer in Texas, with President Joe Biden blaming professional smugglers.
According to a spokesperson for US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the death toll had risen overnight after the tractor-trailer rig was discovered abandoned on an isolated road near San Antonio on Monday.
Sixteen people, including four children, were taken to the hospital suffering from extreme dehydration. Most of the fatalities were Mexican, and US media said some victims died in hospital.
Biden said the grim incident underscored the need to shut down “the multi-billion dollar criminal smuggling industry preying on migrants.”
“The tragic loss of life in San Antonio, Texas that took place yesterday is horrifying and heartbreaking,” he said in a statement.
It was the most deadly single incident involving migrants along the southern border in memory, and drew more attention to the risks that hundreds of thousands of people face seeking to enter the United States from Mexico without permission.
The intense heat of the region is one of the greatest threats, to those smuggled in vehicles and others who cross on foot and try to make their way into the country across the sweltering desert.
On Monday, the high temperature in San Antonio was 103 degrees Fahrenheit, or 39.4 degrees Celsius, and the temperature in the unvented trailer would have been much higher.
According to Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, most of the dead were from Mexico and Central America.
“It’s a tremendous misfortune… so far there are 50 dead: 22 from Mexico, seven from Guatemala, two from Honduras and 19 still without information about their nationality,” Lopez Obrador told reporters.
San Antonio Police Chief William McManus said authorities were first alerted to the trailer by an emergency call at about 5:50 pm local time (2250 GMT).
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