New, horrifying details about the San Antonio people-smuggling catastrophe that claimed at least 51 lives have come to light, including the claim that victims’ odours were supposedly covered up with steak seasoning.
The Texas Tribune stated that a law enforcement officer gave the horrifying information as the tragedy’s death toll rose to 51 on Tuesday.
39 men and 12 women, including five children, were among the deaths, according to officials.
On the outskirts of San Antonio on Monday, when the temperature climbed to 39.4C amid an ongoing heatwave, the tractor-trailer was discovered with approximately 100 passengers inside.
Sixteen individuals were discovered to be alive inside the hot vehicle, and five of them were taken to the hospital. However, five of them have since passed away from dehydration and heat exhaustion.
Cries for help were heard coming from the truck, which was parked close to a train track, and “Stacks of dead” were later discovered within.
Inside, there was no water or working air conditioning, and it is thought that all 51 of the dead fell victim to the heat.
When the authorities came, they found the truck’s doors open in part, a body outside, and the other victims visible inside.
According to Charles Hood, the city’s fire chief, the survivors were too frail to exit the 18-wheeler on their own.
The bodies discovered several blocks away from the moving truck, according to law authorities, suggested that individuals were attempting to jump from it.