9 Illegal Immigrants Die In Smuggling Attempt In Truck In San Antonio, Texas

At least nine people have died after being
crammed into a really hot and windowless
tractor-trailer found parked outside a
Walmart in the midsummer Texas heat,
victims of what authorities said on Sunday
was an immigrant-smuggling attempt
gone wrong.


The driver was arrested, and about 20
others rescued from the rig were
hospitalized in very critical condition,
many with extreme dehydration and
heatstroke, officials said.



San Antonio Police Chief William McManus,
said "We're looking at a human-trafficking
crime," calling it "a horrific tragedy."



One U.S. official said Sunday evening that
17 of those rescued were being treated
for injuries that were considered life-
threatening.



Spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and
Customs Enforcement, said Liz Johnson,
said they were called to the San Antonio
parking lot late Saturday or early Sunday
and found eight people dead inside the
truck.




A ninth victim died at the hospital.
The victims "were very hot to the touch. So
these people were in this trailer without
any signs of any type of water," San
Antonio Fire Chief Charles Hood said.



The tragedy came to light after a person
from the truck approached a Walmart
employee in the parking lot and asked for
water late Saturday night or early Sunday
morning, said McManus, the local police
chief.





The employee gave the person
water and then called police, who found
the dead and the desperate inside the rig.



Some of those in the truck ran into the
woods, McManus said.



Investigators checked store surveillance
video, which showed vehicles arriving and
picking up people from the truck,
authorities said.




Walmart released a brief
statement Sunday saying it was doing
what it could to help investigators. On
Sunday evening, about 100 people
gathered at a San Antonio church for a
vigil to mourn those killed.



Authorities would not say whether the
trailer was locked when they arrived, but
they said it had no working air
conditioning.




It was just the latest
smuggling-by-truck operation to end in
tragedy.



Based on initial interviews with survivors
of the tragedy, more than 100 people may
have been packed into the back of the 18-
wheeler at one point in its journey, ICE
acting Director Thomas Homan said.



Officials said 39 people were inside when
rescuers arrived, and the rest were
believed to have escaped or hitched rides
to their next destination.




Some of the
survivors told authorities they were from
Mexico, and four appeared to be between
10 and 17 years old.



Investigators gave no details on where
the rig began its journey or where it was
headed.



But Homan said it was unlikely
the truck was used to carry the
immigrants across the border into the
United States.



He said people from Latin
America who rely on smuggling networks
typically cross the border on foot and are
then picked up by a driver.


"Even though they have the driver in
custody, I can guarantee you there's
going to be many more people
we're looking for to prosecute,"
Homan said.


Mexican Consul General in San Antonio
Reyna Torres said Mexican nationals were
among the survivors and those who died
on the rig.




The consulate has been in
contact with family members both in
Mexico and the U.S., Torres said.



The Mexican government also released a
statement Sunday evening expressing its
condolences to the relatives of those who
died and called for an "exhaustive
investigation" Guatemala's foreign
ministry added that at least two
Guatemalans were on the abandoned
tractor-trailer.
Tekandi Paniagua, communications
director for the foreign ministry, said the
two male survivors told consulate officials
they crossed the border by foot at Laredo
and boarded the rig.




They told officials
their final destination was Houston.
Federal prosecutors said James Mathew
Bradley Jr., 60, of Clearwater, Florida, was
taken into custody and would be charged
on Monday.



The local U.S. Attorney's Office
wouldn't say whether Bradley was the
alleged driver of the truck who was
arrested.



The U.S. Homeland Security Department
stepped in to take the lead in the
investigation from San Antonio police.



Department Secretary John Kelly said the
incident demonstrates the brutality of
smuggling organizations that "have no
regard for human life and seek only
profits."

Source: AP