official, all of whom requested anonymity to discuss the matter.Īuthorities were alerted to the truck through an emergency-911 call from a passerby flagged down for help by a migrant who had escaped from the truck, the officials said. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) official and another U.S. It appeared the migrants had recently crossed the border and were picked up by the truck to be taken to where they would work, according to a Mexican official, a U.S. The truck may have been carrying around 100 migrants, but the exact number remained unclear, according to local and federal law enforcement officials briefed on the investigation. "While bodies were still being removed, and others being taken to local hospitals, he chose to be heartless and point the finger," Clay-Flores said. More than a dozen survivors were transported to area hospitals for treatment of heat stroke and exhaustion, including four minors.Īt a press conference outside one hospital on Tuesday, Rebeca Clay-Flores, a local Democratic official in Bexar County, sharply criticized Republican Governor Greg Abbott for a tweet on Monday night blaming Biden's border policies for the incident even as the emergency unfolded. There was no immediate information on the nationality of the other victims. INVESTIGATIONS UNDERWAYĪt least 27 Mexicans, three Guatemalans and four Hondurans were believed to be among the dead, according to officials from all three countries. "Exploiting vulnerable individuals for profit is shameful," Biden said, vowing to crack down on multibillion-dollar criminal smuggling enterprises that have helped fuel a record number of migrant crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border since he took office in January 2021. President Joe Biden, in a statement Tuesday, called the incident "horrifying and heartbreaking." ![]() "It's unspeakable," San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg said on MSNBC, noting that his community depends on migrants in the midst of a labor shortage. Local authorities said there were no signs of water or visible means of air-conditioning inside the truck. The truck had been left parked beside some railroad tracks as temperatures soared as high as 103 Fahrenheit (39.4 Celsius). citizen who drove the truck, has also been taken into custody and was expected to be charged, but he remained hospitalized as of Tuesday evening, according to a Mexican official. Investigators traced the truck's vehicle registration to a San Antonio address that they placed under surveillance, and arrested the two men separately when each was seen leaving the residence.Ī third suspect, described as a U.S. Two suspects identified as Juan Francisco D'Luna-Bilbao and Juan Claudio D'Luna-Mendez, both Mexican citizens, have been charged with possessing firearms while residing in the United States illegally, according to court documents and U.S. Some of the victims were hot to the touch, they said. Local authorities described finding the rear door to the trailer open with "stacks of bodies" inside, while others were strewn collapsed nearby. ![]() ![]() Register now for FREE unlimited access to Register
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