SAN ANTONIO — The bodies of more than 40 people believed to be migrants were found dead on Monday in and around a tractor-trailer abandoned on the outskirts of San Antonio, according to two people briefed on the police response.
More than 12 others were found alive and taken to local hospitals, the officials said, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss details of what appeared to be one of the worst episodes of migrant death in recent years.
All of the victims were believed to have crossed into the United States illegally.
Officers from the San Antonio Police Department were searching for the driver of the vehicle, who appeared to have abandoned it sometime before it was discovered in a remote area near to railroad trucks and auto salvage yards, the people said.
State officials in Texas, already managing record levels of migrant crossings from Mexico, have been bracing for a new surge this spring and summer.
It was not immediately clear how the people had died, but San Antonio and other cities across Texas have been experiencing heat in June that is at or near record levels. The Department of Homeland Security was expected to take over the investigation soon.
A spokeswoman for Customs and Border Protection said a team from Homeland Security Investigations had arrived on the scene but could not provide further details.
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