U.S. immigration officials said Wednesday that the death toll from the tragedy of migrants who died in a heated truck in San Antonio, Texas, has risen to 53. Another 11 people have been hospitalized in the area.
In an earlier report given Tuesday, 51 people were killed, 39 men and 12 women.
Of the 53 victims, 27 were from Mexico, 14 from Honduras, seven from Guatemala and two from El Salvador, according to Mexico’s National Migration Agency. Three have not yet been identified.
The gruesome discovery begins Monday night when a San Antonio city employee broke down the back door of a truck near the road where he was working, calling for help.
Four people were arrested
Emergency services initially recovered 46 bodies and sixteen “conscious” people, including four minors. After a day marked by temperatures close to 40 degrees, they suffered from hyperthermia and severe dehydration.
Federal police on Tuesday arrested two people at the address linked to the truck’s license plate, according to court documents. Two suspects, both Mexican nationals with expired tourist visas, have been charged with carrying a prohibited weapon.
read more: At least 46 immigrants were killed in a truck crash in Texas
He arrested a 45-year-old man at the scene and “hid in the bushes after trying to escape,” prosecutors said. Daily San Antonio Express-News, citing police sources, said he was “under the influence of methamphetamine”.
He “tried to impersonate one of the survivors,” said Mexico’s National Migration Agency. The man who was identified as the driver of the truck, especially using video surveillance in the border area, was charged and risked life imprisonment or even the death penalty, the prosecutor said.
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