SAN ANTONIO, Texas--At least nine men were found dead on Sunday alongside dozens of people discovered inside a sweltering tractor trailer parked at a Walmart store in San Antonio, Texas, in what authorities called a case of "ruthless" human trafficking.
Thirty people, many in critical condition and suffering from heat stoke and exhaustion, were removed from the trailer, which lacked air conditioning or a water supply, San Antonio Fire Chief Charles Hood said. Temperatures outside the vehicle topped 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37.8 Celsius).
Another person was found in a wooded area nearby and was also being treated, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Texas said in a statement. All the deceased were adult males, it said.
Authorities initially said eight bodies were found in the trailer, but the U.S. Attorney's Office statement later said the death toll had risen to nine. "All were victims of ruthless human smugglers indifferent to the well-being of their fragile cargo," San Antonio-based U.S. Attorney Richard Durbin Jr. said.
"These people were helpless in the hands of their transporters. Imagine their suffering, trapped in a stifling trailer in 100-plus degree heat," he said.
The truck's driver, identified by the U.S. Attorney's Office as James Mathew Bradley Jr., 60, of Clearwater, Florida, was arrested in connection with incident, the statement said. A criminal complaint will be filed in federal court in San Antonio on Monday morning, and Bradley is expected to have an initial court appearance shortly afterwards, the U.S. Attorney said. Meanwhile, a multiagency investigation was underway.
The bodies of the deceased, who have not yet been identified by authorities, were discovered after officials were led to the trailer by a man who had approached a Walmart employee and asked for water.
