At least 46 people found dead inside a tractor-trailer in Texas

(Photo courtesy: KSAT TV San Antonio)

Federal investigators have launched an investigation after the bodies of 46 people were found inside an abandoned refrigerated tractor-trailer Monday in San Antonio, Texas.

Police were alerted to the parked truck just before 6 p.m., when a worker in a nearby building heard a cry for help, according to San Antonio Police Chief Bill McManus.

Local authorities said the people inside the truck appeared to be undocumented migrants in a presumed human smuggling attempt into the United States.

“A worker found a trailer with doors partially opened and  . . . found a number of deceased people inside,” McManus said during a press conference Monday night. 

Sixteen other people — 12 adults and four children — were taken to nearby medical facilities for further care, according to San Antonio Fire Chief Charles Hood.

“The patients that we saw were hot to the touch, they were suffering from heat stroke, heat exhaustion, no signs of water in the vehicle,” Hood said. “It was a refrigerated tractor-trailer, but there was no visible working AC unit on that rig.” 

Three people were in custody Monday night, but it was unclear if they were connected to the incident, authorities said.

McManus said the investigation has been turned over to the Department of Homeland Security Investigations.

It’s not the first deadly incident involving undocumented migrants trapped in an 18-wheeler in San Antonio’s history. In 2017, 10 undocumentend migrants died of heat exposure/asphyxiation after being locked inside a tractor-trailer at a Walmart parking lot.

Source: freightwaves - At least 46 people found dead inside a tractor-trailer in Texas
Editor: Noi Mahoney