He also allegedly “tried to impersonate one of the survivors,” Mexico’s National Migration Institute said. Identified as the driver of the truck, including using video surveillance at the border crossing, he has been charged and faces life in prison or even the death penalty, the prosecutor added.
A 28-year-old man, suspected of having exchanged with the driver “on the way” of migrants, has also been charged and faces the same sentence.
The death toll from the tragedy of migrants found dead in an overheated truck in San Antonio, Texas, has risen to 53, U.S. immigration officials said Wednesday. Eleven other people are still hospitalized in the area.
Of the 53 victims, 27 were from Mexico, 14 from Honduras, seven from Guatemala and two from El Salvador, Mexico’s National Migration Institute said. Three people have yet to be identified.
The gruesome discovery dates back to Monday night, when a San Antonio city employee heard a call for help near a road where he worked and opened the back door of the truck.
Four men arrested
Rescuers had first taken out 46 corpses and sixteen “conscious” people, including four minors. After a day marked by temperatures close to 40 degrees, they suffered from hyperthermia and acute dehydration.