SAN ANTONIO (AP) – Authorities called to a Walmart parking lot in San Antonio overnight found eight people dead and 20 others in dire condition in the back of a sweltering tractor-trailer, in what police are calling a horrific case of immigrant smuggling.
The truck’s driver was arrested and all 28 survivors were taken to hospitals, where 20 were in extremely critical or serious condition, authorities said. Eight others were being treated for lesser injuries, including heat stroke and dehydration.
Temperatures in San Antonio reached 101 degrees (38 Celsius) on Saturday and didn’t dip below 90 degrees (32 C) until after 10 p.m., according to the National Weather Service. The truck’s trailer also didn’t have a working air conditioner system, San Antonio Fire Chief Charles Hood said in a news briefing.
“They were very hot to the touch. So these people were in this trailer without any signs of any type of water,” he said. “It was a mass casualty situation for us.”
A person from the truck initially approached a Walmart employee in the parking lot and asked for water late Saturday night or early Sunday morning, police Chief William McManus said. The employee gave the person the water and then called police, who found the dead and desperate inside the truck.