by Sundance at The Conservative Treehouse
The death toll in the human smuggling operation involving a tractor trailer filled with illegal aliens has risen to 51 people. Mexican Foreign Secretary Marcelo Ebrard Casaubon said on Twitter that among the victims were 22 Mexican nationals, seven Guatemalans and two Hondurans.
TEXAS – […] Bexar County Precinct 1 Commissioner Rebeca Clay-Flores said the death toll has risen to 51 people during a press conference Tuesday afternoon. Initially, 46 people were found dead in the trailer Monday and 16 people were hospitalized, authorities said.
The death count was the highest ever from a smuggling incident in the United States, according to Craig Larrabee, acting special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in San Antonio.
“This is a horror that surpasses anything we’ve experienced before,” said San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg. “And it’s sadly a preventable tragedy.”
The Baptist Health System in San Antonio received five patients and two have since died, spokesperson Natalie Gutierrez told USA TODAY. She said three remained in critical condition.
Two people were taken to University Hospital in San Antonio, including an adolescent male and a 23-year-old woman, the University Health System said on Twitter. Both were in critical condition. (read more)