U.S. Official: Truck Carrying Migrants Who Died Cleared Checkpoint

A U.S. official says the tractor-trailer that was attempting to smuggle migrants across the border had passed an inland Border Patrol checkpoint.

The tractor-trailer at the center of a human-smuggling attempt that left 53 people dead had passed through an inland U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint with migrants inside the sweltering rig earlier in its journey, a U.S. official said Thursday.

The truck went through the checkpoint on Interstate 35 located 26 miles northeast of the border city of Laredo, Texas.

Related StoryOfficial: 27 Dead Migrants Found In San Antonio Believed To Be Mexican