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.