San Antonio (CNN)Fifty migrants are believed to have died after they and others were found in sweltering conditions in a semitruck in San Antonio, a federal law enforcement official said Tuesday, in a scene the mayor called a “horrific human tragedy.”
The death toll, which the city’s fire chief gave Monday as 46, includes migrants from Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Their discovery Monday comes as US federal authorities have launched an “unprecedented” operation to disrupt human smuggling networks amid an influx of migrants at the US-Mexico border.“An alleged human smuggling event” was alerted by San Antonio police to the US Department of Homeland Security’s investigation unit, which is leading the probe, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesperson said Monday. The incident appears to be among the most deadly in recent years for migrants near the southern border.Three people detained away from the trailer site are in police custody, though their connection to the situation is unclear, Police Chief Bill McManus said at a news conference Monday night.
