Two Mexicans charged after 51 migrants die in sweltering Texas truck
Global News
Authorities 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.
At least 51 migrants have died after being trapped inside a sweltering tractor-trailer truck found abandoned in Texas, authorities said on Tuesday, as two Mexican nationals tied to the unprecedented smuggling tragedy were charged in U.S. federal court.
The deceased migrants, 39 men and 12 women, most of them citizens of Mexico, were discovered on Monday in an industrial area on the outskirts of San Antonio, Texas, about 250 kilometres north of the U.S.-Mexico border.
The incident marked the greatest loss of life on record from a human trafficking attempt in the United States, according to Craig Larrabee, an acting special agent in charge with the investigative arm of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Local authorities described finding the rear door to the trailer open with “stacks of bodies” inside, while others were strewn collapsed nearby. Some of the victims were hot to the touch, they said.
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. authorities.
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.
A third suspect, described as a U.S. 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.
The truck had been left parked beside some railroad tracks as temperatures soared as high as 39.4 Celsius. Local authorities said there were no signs of water or visible means of air-conditioning inside the truck.
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