Forty-six people were found dead inside a big-rig truck’s trailer in San Antonio, Texas, on Monday, San Antonio Fire Chief Charles Hood confirmed during a press conference.
Additionally, Hood stated that 16 others — 12 adults and four children — were found alive and were transported to various hospitals.
San Antonio Police Chief William P. McManus noted during the conference, posted on San Antonio Police Department's Facebook, that three people were in custody. He added that they do not know if the three people in custody are absolutely connected with human trafficking. Homeland Security Investigations has now taken over the investigation.
Early Monday, a person who works in the southwest San Antonio area near the railroad tracks reported hearing a cry for help. After spotting the trailer with the doors partially opened, the person “found a number of deceased individuals inside.”
“We’re not supposed to open up a truck and see stacks of bodies in there,” Hood also expressed, adding that the bodies “were hot to the touch. They were suffering from heat stroke, heat exhaustion, no signs of water in the vehicle.”
He also added that there was no visible working AC in the rig. Temperatures in San Antonio reached up to 100 degrees on Monday, per the National Weather Service. Temperatures inside a vehicle can rise exponentially.
“Heatstroke can happen when the temperatures are as low at 57 degrees outside, and a car can heat up by 20 degrees Fahrenheit in just 10 minutes,” Dr. Kira Sieplinga, a pediatric hospitalist at Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital in Michigan, previously told TODAY Parents.
A similar incident occurred in 2017 when 10 migrants died after being found in an 18-wheeler in a San Antonio parking lot.