On Friday in south Texas, two suspected undocumented immigrants choked to death on a freight train, while ten more in need of medical attention were brought to the hospital by helicopter or ambulance, according to authorities.
Uvalde police claimed in a statement that they received an anonymous 911 call warning them that multiple immigrants were suffocating inside a train. According to authorities, at least 15 immigrants required emergency medical assistance.
According to authorities, US Border Patrol agents were contacted and were able to halt the train just east of Knippa, Texas, in Uvalde County. To land the helicopters, officials briefly blocked US Highway 90.
According to the US Department of Homeland Security, federal officials were investigating into the potential of people smuggling.
The tragedy occurred near the location of a more serious occurrence last year when 53 migrants perished in the back of a tractor-trailer during a smuggling attempt in the blazing heat.
On June 27, dozens of migrants were found jammed into the back of a vehicle on the outskirts of San Antonio.
In that instance, two Americans have been charged in federal court and might face the death sentence if convicted. Two Mexicans have been charged with less serious offences.
“We are heartbroken to learn of yet another tragic incident involving migrants making the perilous journey,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejando Mayorkas said on Twitter, offering to collaborate with local investigators to identify those guilty.
Mayorkas described smugglers as “callous and only concerned with making a profit.”
According to KSAT news, Uvalde Police Chief Daniel Rodriguez thought the migrants were dehydrated owing to the heat of the railway carriages during hot weather.
“It’s tragic that so many undocumented immigrants were discovered in this condition, and two of them died.” “It’s heartbreaking,” Rodriguez said, according to KSAT.
According to Uvalde police, the Union Pacific railroad will lead the inquiry.
The Mexican embassy in Eagle Pass, Texas, confirmed the tragedy on Twitter and said it was in contact with US officials to establish whether any of the casualties were Mexican.
Homeland Security was yet to establish the victims’ nationalities or whether any families or children were among them, according to a department official with knowledge of the situation who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Knippa is approximately 72 miles (115 kilometres) west of San Antonio and around 120 miles (190 kilometres) from the Mexican border.
It is close to Uvalde, which was the site of a horrific shooting at an elementary school in May that murdered 19 students and two teachers.
