JTFMax:

If death by heatstroke is considered a tragedy, then the San Antonio human smuggling incident should be considered the worst in U.S. history. The smuggling attempt left at least 50 migrants dead, including two Guatemalans and a teenager.

Forty-eight people died on the scene, and two died at hospitals, the federal law enforcement official told the press on Tuesday, noting the toll is preliminary.

Three people detained away from the trailer site are in police custody. However, Police Chief Bill McManus said at a news conference Monday night that their connection to the situation is unclear.

At Monday night’s news conference, San Antonio Fire Chief Charles Hood said six people — 12 adults and four children — were taken alive and conscious to medical facilities.

Patients were hot to the touch and suffering from heat stroke and exhaustion, Hood said. He said that the refrigerator semi tractor-trailer had no visible working air conditioning unit and no sign of water inside. It’s not clear how long people inside the truck had been dead. According to the National Weather Service, high temperatures Monday in the San Antonio area ranged from the high 90s to the low 100s.

President Biden on Tuesday said the deaths underscore the need to go after criminal trafficking rings.

“Exploiting vulnerable individuals for profit is shameful, as is political grandstanding around tragedy. My administration will continue to do everything possible to stop human smugglers and traffickers from taking advantage of people seeking to enter the United States between ports of entry.” 

The truck went Monday through a checkpoint north of Laredo, Texas, said U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, representing a district including Laredo and San Antonio, about 150 miles apart. Cuellar spoke Tuesday with Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and has been in touch with U.S. Border Patrol.

Mexico’s attorney general will investigate the deaths, the country’s foreign minister said on Twitter.

Approximately 500 migrants arrived in San Antonio that month. The town is about 250km from the border with Mexico, and a large number of people smugglers use the city as a transit point for migrants. The incident was a tragic event for local officials. The city’s sheriff, Eusevio Salinas, was overwhelmed with calls for help and had to find a place to take the bodies.

The Mexican consul in San Antonio is on their way to the scene. The nationalities of the others are unknown, but the Honduran Foreign Minister has confirmed that some of the victims were Hondurans. A truck registered to Felipe Betancourt in Alamo, Texas, was reportedly used to smuggle migrants into the United States.

 Update: 

Four people have been charged in the Texas semi-truck smuggling operation that left 53 migrants dead!

The driver of the tractor-trailer has been charged with smuggling resulting in death. He's from Brownsville but lives in the Pasadena area, according to the DOJ.