Seventh migrant left for dead alongside San Antonio tracks
U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Texas Justin R. Simmons said the train is believed to have started in the Texas border city of Del Rio. Six of the bodies were discovered by a Union Pacific employee at a rail yard in Laredo, he said. A seventh person had been left for dead alongside the tracks by the smugglers when they opened the container in San Antonio, according to Simmons.
“It’s very hard to survive in an un-air conditioned, sealed container with … the temperature being what it was on that day,” Simmons said.
The Webb County medical examiner suspected the deaths were caused by hyperthermia, or heat stroke, authorities said.
The migrants were from Honduras and Mexico and included a 14-year-old boy, according to authorities.
The indictment charges 11 people in connection with the smuggling deaths.