At least 46 people have been found dead in an abandoned lorry on the outskirts of San Antonio, Texas. A fire brigade official said that 16 people, including four children, have also been taken to the hospital.
The survivors were “hot to the touch” and suffered from heat stroke and heat exhaustion. San Antonio, which is 250 km (150 mi) from the US-Mexican border, is a major transit route for smugglers.
Human traffickers often use lorries to transport undocumented migrants after having managed to cross into the United States, having met in remote areas.
“They had families … and they were trying to find a better life,” San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg said. “This is nothing short of a horrific, human tragedy.”
San Antonio Fire Chief Charles Hood told reporters that emergency responders initially arrived at the scene at around 18:00 local time (23:00 GMT).
“We shouldn’t open a truck and see piles of bodies in it. None of us works to imagine it,” he said. He said the vehicle that was abandoned by its driver had no working air conditioning and no drinking water inside.
San Antonio’s climate is extremely hot in the summer months, with temperatures reaching 39.4C (103F) on Monday, and it is suspected the victims died of heat exhaustion and dehydration.
Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said two Guatemalans were among those taken to the hospital. The nationalities of the other victims were not immediately clear.
Three people are being taken into custody and the investigation has been handed over to federal agents. Mexican Consul General Ruben Minutti has been dispatched to the scene and the consulate in San Antonio said it would provide “all assistance” if Mexican citizens are among the dead.
Edward Reyna, a security guard at a lumber yard a few yards away, said he was not surprised to come on his night shift and hear the news. He said he had lost count of the time he saw migrants jumping off a train that passed right next to the lorry.