Authorities in San Antonio, Texas, found 46 migrants dead inside a tractor-trailer on Monday, according to the city's fire department, in what appears to be one of the most deadly recent incidents of human smuggled along the U.S.-Mexico border.
The San Antonio Fire Department said 16 other people found in the trailer were transported to the hospital for heat stroke and exhaustion, including four minors. Three people were in custody after the incident, according to officials.
The truck was found next to railroad tracks in a remote area on the southern outskirts.
Mexico's Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard called the suffocation of the migrants in the truck the tragedy in Texas on Twitter and said the local consulate was en route to the scene, though the nationalities of the victims had not been confirmed.
There have been a record number of migrant crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border in the last few months, which has sparked criticisms of the immigration policies of U.S. President Joe Biden, a Democrat.
The temperature in San Antonio, about 160 miles 250 km from the Mexican border, swelled to a high of 103 degrees Fahrenheit 39.4 degrees Celsius on Monday, with high humidity.
In July 2017, ten migrants died in a tractor-trailer discovered by San Antonio police in a Wal-Mart parking lot. The driver, James Matthew Bradley, Jr., was sentenced to life in prison for his role in the smuggling operation the following year.