López Obrador announced that on July 12 he will meet in Washington with his colleague from the United States, Joe Biden, and that the central topic of the conversation will be the phenomenon of migrants.
According to the authorities there are three people detained for the incident.
“We are closely monitoring” the “absolutely horrific and disheartening” information from San Antonio, White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said aboard Air Force One on her way to the NATO summit in Madrid.
discovery is one of the worst tragedies involving migrants in the United States in recent yearsand occurs five years after an incident with similar characteristics that occurred in the same city in central Texas, a few hours from the border with Mexico.
“Right now we have processed 46 bodies,” San Antonio Fire Chief Charles Hood was quoted as saying by the AFP news agency.
It indicated that 16 people – 12 adults and four children – had been taken to the hospital alive and conscious.
“The patients we saw were hot to the touch, suffering from heatstroke, heat exhaustion, and no sign of water in the vehicle. It was a refrigerated truck, but there was no evidence of a working air conditioning unit.“, he added.
“Tonight we are dealing with a horrible human tragedy,” San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg said at a news conference.
“I urge you all to think compassionately and to pray for the dead, the injured and the families,” he asked, adding: “We hope that those responsible for putting these people in such inhumane conditions will be prosecuted with the full weight of justice.” law”.
San Antonio, the route of entry to the United States
According to San Antonio Police Chief William McManus, authorities were first alerted at 5:50 p.m. local time Monday.
“An employee in one of the buildings behind me heard a cry for help,” he told reporters. “I went to investigate, found the container with the doors partially open, opened it up and took a look, finding several deceased individuals.”
The investigation, for “alleged human trafficking”, is carried out by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
San Antonio, located about 250 kilometers from the US-Mexico border, is a main route for migrant smugglers.
The city has also been hit by a recent record heat wave that saw temperatures of 39.5 degrees Celsius yesterday.
The vehicle was found on a road near the I-35 freeway, a road that leads directly to the border with Mexico.
A massive emergency operation was deployed to the scene involving police, firefighters and ambulances.
The Governor of Texas, Greg AbbottRepublican who defends a hard line on immigration, launched a harsh attack on the president Joe Biden and blamed their “deadly open border policies”.
“These deaths weigh heavily on Biden,” Abbott wrote on Twitter. “They show the deadly consequences of his refusal to toughen the law,” she added.
The Foreign Minister of Mexico, Marcelo Ebrarddescribed the incident as “tragedy” and said that the Mexican consul was on his way to the scene.
Ebrard said the nationalities of the victims were still unknown, but that the survivors included two Guatemalans.
Trucks like the one found in San Antonio are a means of transport widely used by migrants who intend to enter the United States through the border.
The journey is extremely dangerous, especially since vehicles of this type do not usually have ventilation or cooling systems.
“The Lord have mercy on them. They expected a better life,” Gustavo Garcia-Siller, Archbishop of San Antonio, wrote on Twitter after the news broke.
“Once again, the lack of courage to deal with immigration reform is killing and destroying lives,” he added.
Source: Ambito
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