“A crime against humanity”: San Antonio police chief condemns the tragic death of more than 50 migrants

An abandoned truck was found in San Antonio earlier this week with several dead migrants. It is believed that they were being smuggled into the United States from Mexico. As of Tuesday, June 28, the death toll stood at 51.

William McManus, the San Antonio Police Chief, has described the event as "a crime against humanity." He said:

"The scene was tragic beyond words. I don't understand how anyone could be so callous as to allow it to happen and run from the scene."

The tragedy comes at a time when many immigrants have been entering the United States by undertaking perilous journeys at the cost of their lives. Migrants were stopped about 240,000 times in May, reports stated.

As the deadliest smuggling episode ever on the U.S.-Mexico border, it resulted in more than a dozen people being rushed to hospitals, including four children.

Meanwhile, the person responsible for this tragedy abandoned the truck and disappeared before police arrived at the scene.

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San Antonio migrant tragedy: Mexican government to provide assistance to victims' families

A day after the tragedy, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador announced that the government would provide aid to the victims' families. He further stated that of the dead, 22 were Mexicans, seven were Guatemalans, and two were from Honduras. The nationalities of the remaining 20 people have not been confirmed as of yet.

Among the dead were 39 men and 12 women, Bexar County officials said.

Describing the scene of bodies stacked inside, police chief McManus said:

"The initial work for responding SAPD officers was trying to figure out how many folks we had alive along with EMS, and sorting the survivors from the deceased and trying to get them medical attention."

Meanwhile, speaking about the survivors, McManus mentioned that they lacked water and air conditioning. He said:

"The patients that we saw were hot to the touch. They were suffering from heat stroke, heat exhaustion."

Of the 16 people who were initially hospitalized, including four children, San Antonio Fire Chief Charles Hood stated that they are all expected to survive.

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Search for suspects continues

Three suspects have been detained since the tragedy was reported, one of them being caught in a nearby field, according to San Antonio Police Chief McManus. However, officials are uncertain of their involvement in the case and are yet to reveal their identities.

The main roads in San Antonio like the I-35 are preferred routes for smugglers. Criminal organizations give immigrants false hopes and promises that they will reach the United States by exposing them to brutal conditions.

Migrants usually pay $8,000 to $10,000 to be taken across the border. First, they are loaded into a tractor-trailer and driven to San Antonio. Once there, they get transferred to smaller vehicles for their final destinations across the United States, as per Craig Larrabee, acting special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in San Antonio.

Larrabee also maintained that the journey is usually difficult with no guarantee of proper hydration for passengers.

Speaking about the uncertainty of crossing borders illegally, McManus said:

"Once you are in there and they lock those doors your fate is kind of in the wind."

Officials have not disclosed the identities of the victims.