Revised at 7:35 p.m. to reflect charges, additional information throughout.
The truck had been packed with 67 people, and the dead included 27 from Mexico, 14 from Honduras, seven from Guatemala and two from El Salvador, said Francisco Garduño, chief of Mexico’s National Immigration Institute. The tragedy occurred at a time when huge numbers of migrants have been coming to the U.S., many of them taking perilous risks to cross swift rivers and canals and scorching desert landscapes. Migrants were stopped nearly 240,000 times in May, up by one-third from a year ago.
Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Wednesday that state troopers would set up additional truck checkpoints on highways, but he did not say how many. In April, Abbott gridlocked the 1,200-mile Texas border for a week by requiring every truck entering the state to undergo additional inspections as part of his ongoing fight with the Biden administration over immigration policy.
Martinez was arrested in East Texas and will be transported to San Antonio. Zamorano was scheduled to have his first court appearance Thursday. It was not immediately known whether either suspect had an attorney. The death count from Monday’s tragedy in San Antonio was the highest ever from a smuggling attempt in the U.S., he said. Four years ago, 10 died in 2017 after being trapped inside a truck parked at a San Antonio Walmart. In 2003, the bodies of 19 migrants were found in a sweltering truck southeast of the city.
With little information about the victims, desperate families from Mexico and Central America frantically sought word of their loved ones.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Source: SpectrumNews1TX - 🏆 333. / 59 Read more »
Source: WOKVNews - 🏆 247. / 63 Read more »
Source: KSLcom - 🏆 549. / 51 Read more »
Source: WOKVNews - 🏆 247. / 63 Read more »
Source: FOX29philly - 🏆 570. / 51 Read more »
Source: AP - 🏆 728. / 51 Read more »