Two migrants were found dead and at least 10 were hospitalized on March 24 after the Uvalde Police Department in South Texas received a call that they were “suffocating” in a freight train traveling near the U.S.-Mexico border.
According to a police statement, at approximately 3:50 p.m., the Uvalde Telecommunications Center received a 911 call from an unknown third-party caller advising that there were numerous undocumented immigrants “suffocating” inside a train car.
U.S. Border Patrol were informed of the emergency call and were able to stop the train 2-3 miles east of Knippa, Texas. Approximately 15 immigrants were discovered to be in need of emergency medical attention. Two of the immigrants were pronounced deceased. Five were flown to San Antonio area hospitals with another five transported to hospitals locally. Their conditions are unknown.
Rail operator Union Pacific will lead the investigation.
Almost a year to the day, Border Patrol agents assigned to Uvalde Station discovered a group of migrants locked in car haulers near Uvalde. This followed two February 2022 discoveries of migrants in rail cars where Uvalde Border Patrol agents found them locked in with no means of escape.
As well as traveling inside dangerous locked rail cars, migrants have also been found attempting to cross into the United States by riding on top of the rail cars, in naturally occurring voids, holding onto the undercarriage, within brand new vehicles that are being shipped north, and other locations on and within the rail cars.
