46 people found dead, 16 hospitalized in hot tractor-trailer in San Antonio

Police and fire officials in San Antonio, Texas, found 46 people dead in the back of a tractor-trailer Monday evening along with 12 adults and four children still alive but too weak to pull themselves out of the truck. Officials believe the dead and hospitalized survivors are migrants, The Texas Tribune reports. Federal investigators with the Department of Homeland Security took control of the case Monday night, calling it an "alleged human smuggling event." Three people were taken into custody, but their relationship to the incident was not disclosed.
Police got a call about cries of help from the back of the 18-wheeler shortly before 6 p.m. on Monday. San Antonio Fire Chief Charles Hood said emergency responders found "stacks of bodies" in the truck, which had no visible water or air conditioning, and the survivors were all suffering from heat exhaustion and heat stroke. The temperature rose to 101 degrees in San Antonio on Monday. "This is nothing short of a horrific human tragedy," San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg said at a news conference.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R), who has deployed state troopers and National Guard in a sprawling operation to tackle human trafficking and other border issues, tweeted that "these deaths are on Biden" and "his deadly open border policies." ("People cramming themselves into a container to be smuggled across the border happens when a border is not open," The Atlantic's Adam Serwer noted. "If it's open you don't need to do that.")
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
San Antonio Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller wrote that "once again, the lack of courage to deal with immigration reform is killing and destroying lives. We do not learn. God teach us to change."
This isn't the first such incident in Texas. San Antonio police found 39 undocumented migrants inside a hot tractor-trailer in 2017, and 10 of them died, landing the driver with life in prison, the Tribune reports. Another 19 undocumented migrants were found dead of suffocation in an airless trailer in Victoria, Texas, in 2003.
This is already the hottest June on record in San Antonio, with 16 days where the temperature rose to 100 degrees or higher, the National Weather Service reports. The previous record, according to data stretching back to 1885, was nine days of 100-plus heat.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Gavin Newsom mulls California redistricting to counter Texas gerrymandering
TALKING POINTS A controversial plan has become a major flashpoint among Democrats struggling for traction in the Trump era
-
6 perfect gifts for travel lovers
The Week Recommends The best trip is the one that lives on and on
-
How can you get the maximum Social Security retirement benefit?
the explainer These steps can help boost the Social Security amount you receive
-
President diagnosed with 'chronic venous insufficiency'
Speed Read The vein disorder has given Trump swollen ankles and visible bruising on his hands
-
'Bawdy' Trump letter supercharges Epstein scandal
Speed Read The Wall Street Journal published details of Trump's alleged birthday letter to Epstein
-
Fed chair Powell in Trump's firing line
Speed Read The president considers removing Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell
-
Trump trashes supporters over Epstein files
speed read The president lashed out on social media following criticism of his administration's Jeffrey Epstein investigation
-
Judge nixes wiping medical debt from credit checks
Speed Read Medical debt can now be included in credit reports
-
Grijalva wins Democratic special primary for Arizona
Speed Read She will go up against Republican nominee Daniel Butierez to fill the US House seat her father held until his death earlier this year
-
US inflation jumps as Trump tariffs 'bite'
Speed Read Consumer prices are climbing and the inflation rate rose to its highest level in four months
-
SCOTUS greenlights mass DOE firings
Speed Read The Supreme Court will allow the Trump administration to further shrink the Education Department