The death toll following the discovery of migrants in a hot truck in a Walmart car park in Texas has risen to 10, after two people died in hospital.
Earlier Sunday, eight bodies were found in the overheated truck in San Antonio - about a two-hour drive from the Mexican border - in what police said appears to be a "horrific" human trafficking crime.
Two of the 38 people found in the truck have since died in hospital, said Thomas Homan, acting director of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Based on initial interviews with survivors, Mr Homan said there may have been more than 100 people in the truck. Many are believed to have fled or been picked up.
Mr Homan said four of the passengers are believed to be between 10 and 17 years old, and at least one of them is in serious condition.
Some survivors have identified themselves as Mexican nationals, he said.
Earlier, authorities said many people found int he truck were in serious to "extremely critical" conditions, suffering from heat stroke and dehydration.
The truck driver has been arrested, city police chief William McManus said.
"We got a call from a Walmart employee about a welfare check in a tractor-trailer that was parked on the lot here," Chief McManus said.
"He was approached by someone from that truck, who was asking for water."
The employee returned with the water and then called the police who "found eight people dead in the back of that trailer," the police chief said, calling it a "horrific tragedy".
"We're looking at a human trafficking crime," Chief McManus said.
Fire Chief Charles Hood said people in the truck were "hot to the touch", with the air conditioner in the trailer not working.
Weather in the area has been hot and dry.
The US Department of Homeland Security and immigration officials are assisting local law enforcement with the investigation.
"This is not an isolated incident... this happens all the time," Chief McManus said.
"It happens late at night, under darkness because they don't want to be discovered."
The police chief said store security footage showed that some vehicles came to pick up some travelers who were on the truck and who had made it out alive.
It was not immediately clear how long the truck had been in the parking lot, and police were working to determine who owns it.
Tens of thousands of illegal migrants from Mexico and Central America attempt to make the treacherous trip into the US each year.
In 2003, 19 would-be migrants died in an overheated truck while being taken from south Texas near the Mexican border to Houston.
President Donald Trump has pledged to build a security wall along America's border with its neighbor - and make Mexico pay for it - in order to crack down on illegal immigration, leading to raised tensions with Mexico City.
So far, the project has been stalled by reluctance in Congress to dedicate funding for the barrier, which could cost as much as $20 billion according to some estimates.
US Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly has been to Mexico twice to discuss immigration, human trafficking and the spiraling cross-border drugs trade.
US Senator John Cornyn of Texas said Sunday on Twitter: "Border security will help prevent this Texas tragedy."
Acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement director Thomas Homan said the incident "ranks as a stark reminder of why human smuggling networks must be pursued, caught and punished."
"These networks have repeatedly shown a reckless disregard for those they smuggle, as last night's case demonstrates," Mr Homan said in a statement.
© AFP 2024
