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Dead Immigrants Found in Train Boxcar and Near Tracks in Texas
Developing
In Short: Seven suspected immigrants, believed to be from Mexico and Honduras, were discovered dead in a train boxcar near Laredo and near railroad tracks in San Antonio.
Seven suspected immigrants, believed to be from Mexico and Honduras, were discovered dead in a train boxcar near Laredo and near railroad tracks in San Antonio, according to NBC News. The discovery came after a Union Pacific employee reported multiple casualties in a cargo train boxcar near Laredo around 3 p.m. on Monday.
The seventh person, who may have fallen off the train or been thrown out, was found near railroad tracks in San Antonio, approximately 160 miles northeast of Laredo. Sheriff Javier Salazar of Bexar County said the prevailing theory is that he was among the group being smuggled into the country.
In Laredo, one of the victims appears to be a teenage boy, according to the medical examiner's office in Webb County. Salazar mentioned that officers returned to the train tracks and found the seventh person after learning of the bodies in Laredo.
The incident highlights the dangers faced by those attempting to cross the border illegally, with one victim believed to have died from heat-related illness. The Port of Laredo, a major entry point for goods, accounted for 62% of the state's land port trade in 2024, valued at nearly $340 billion, according to data from the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts.
Background
Texas is the most populous state in the Southern United States. It borders the American states of Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, and New Mexico to the west.
What's confirmed
What's still developing
- A person found dead near railroad tracks in San Antonio on Monday is believed to be connected to six other people whose remains were discovered in a cargo train boxcar near Laredo, Texas, officials said.
- Laredo police responded after a Union Pacific employee reported a “trailer box car with the discovery of multiple casualties in the car” around 3 p.m.
- The seventh person may have fallen off the train or been thrown out, which is why he was found in San Antonio, about 160 miles northeast of Laredo, said Javier Salazar, the sheriff of Bexar County, where San Antonio…
- “At this point, the prevailing theory is that he’s a resident of Mexico that was among the group that was being smuggled into the country in one of these shipping containers,” Salazar said at a news conference Monday.
- The medical examiner’s office said in a news release that it believes the people in the Laredo group came from Mexico and Honduras.
- The ministry offered condolences and said the government will maintain contact with families of the dead and help arrange for the return of their bodies.
- The person found in San Antonio may also have died from heat-related illness.
- Police were dispatched “several miles up the road” from where the person’s body was eventually found, Salazar said.