The number of people found dead Monday, June 27 in a truck in Texas amounts to at least 46, according to a new report released at a press conference by the fire chief of San Antonio. Charles Hood said sixteen injured people – twelve adults and four children – had been taken care of and were “conscious” when transported to medical services.
Trucks such as the one found in San Antonio, about 240 km from the border with Mexico, are a means of transport frequently used by migrants wishing to enter the United States. Such a trip is extremely dangerous, especially since these vehicles are rarely air-conditioned and their occupants quickly run out of water.
“The patients we saw were hot to the touch, they were suffering from heat stroke, heat exhaustion, no water was found in the vehicle,” the fire chief said.
“Tragedy”
Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard tweeted a “tragedy” and said the Mexican consul, although the nationalities of the victims are “unknown”, was on the way.
Republican Governor of Texas Greg Abbott immediately seized on the tragedy to blame it on Democratic President Joe Biden. “These deaths are [the responsibility of] Biden. They are the result of his deadly policy of open borders,” he attacked.
The arrivals of illegal migrants increased sharply after the election of Joe Biden, although the latter has been trying since his arrival at the White House to stem the migratory influx by entrusting this thorny file to his vice-president Kamala Harris.
In 2017, a similar tragedy marked the spirits: ten migrants were killed in an overheated trailer parked in a parking lot near San Antonio.