US arrests 4 Mexican nationals in 2022 deaths of 53 migrants trapped in hot tractor-trailer

By JIM VERTUNO and ERIC GAY
Associated Press

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — U.S. authorities have announced the arrests of four men they say were part of a human smuggling effort last year that ended in the deaths of 53 migrants, including eight children, who were left in a tractor-trailer in the scorching Texas summer. Authorities said Tuesday on the anniversary of the June 27, 2002, tragedy that the four Mexican nationals had been aware that the trailer’s air-conditioning unit was malfunctioning and would not blow cool air to the migrants trapped inside during the nearly three-hour ride. When the trailer was opened in San Antonio, 48 migrants were already dead. Five more died at hospitals.