More than 50 migrants, from Mexico or Central America, died in an overheated truck in Texas, a tragedy imputed on Tuesday June 28 by President Joe Biden to "smugglers" motivated solely by the lure of profit.
The gruesome discovery dates back to Monday night, when a San Antonio city worker heard a call for help near a road where he was working, and cracked open the truck's back door.
The emergency services had first taken out 46 corpses and sixteen "conscious" people, including four minors, who were transferred to nearby hospitals.
After a day marked by temperatures close to 40 degrees, they suffered from hyperthermia and acute dehydration.
The death toll rose to 51 on Tuesday, 39 men and 12 women, local authorities said at a press conference.
Among those hospitalized is a teenager in critical condition, they added.
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who will be received on July 12 at the White House, said that 22 victims were from Mexico, seven from Guatemala, two from Honduras.
"It's a huge misfortune," he noted.
"criminal industry"
According to the first elements of the investigation, "this tragedy was caused by smugglers or traffickers" who "exploit" migrants "without respect for their lives", commented his American counterpart in a press release.
Joe Biden called for strengthening the fight against "a multi-billion dollar criminal industry" and pointed out that 2,400 arrests have been made since the launch, three months ago, of a joint action between the United States and other countries in the region.
Unconvinced, the Republicans questioned his migration policy.
“These deaths are to be attributed to Biden. They are the result of his deadly policy of opening the borders”, immediately attacked the Republican Governor of Texas Greg Abbott.
"Human traffickers exploit our open borders and the most vulnerable pay with their lives," said Texas Senator Ted Cruz.
Slowed down during the pandemic, migrant arrivals increased sharply after the election of Joe Biden and the city of San Antonio, located 240 km from the border, is an important stopover before continuing the journey to the north of the United States .
Three arrests
The city's mayor, Ron Nirenberg, lamented "a horrible tragedy" and hoped that those responsible "will be prosecuted".
Three people were arrested, according to the police chief.
But "we don't know if they are related to this or not," said William McManus.
On the site of the tragedy, the truck had been removed on Tuesday evening and local residents had placed candles and wooden crosses to pay tribute to the victims.
Pope Francis expressed Tuesday his "pain" for this "tragedy", which he compared to that of the Spanish enclave of Melilla in Morocco, where at least 23 migrants perished on Friday.
The UN said it was "deeply troubled".
It "illustrates once again the crucial need for safe legal channels for migration" declared from Geneva a spokesperson for the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ravina Shamdasani.
With AFP
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