Rescuers Save 37 Aliens From Trailer Heated to 130 Degrees

Thirty-seven illegal aliens, including some children, were rescued Wednesday from a locked tractor-trailer rig in Santa Ana after police heard banging inside.

None of the rescued people needed medical attention, although temperatures in the enclosed trailer at 8 a.m. were 110 to 130 degrees Fahrenheit, said Lt. Robert Chavez, a spokesman for Santa Ana police.

“Despite the hot weather, they were in good condition,” Chavez said. In the afternoon, Santa Ana’s outdoors temperature rose to 95 degrees.

The 18-wheel truck became involved in a hit-and-run accident in Santa Ana, Chavez said. When a motorcycle officer spotted it and pulled it over, driver Trinidad Granillo, 18, of San Diego tried to run, Chavez said, but officers caught him.

Police then heard banging and movement in the 40-foot trailer and opened the doors.

In a July 2 tragedy, 18 suspected illegal aliens were found dead in a locked boxcar in Sierra Blanca, Tex. One man survived then by carving a hole with a railroad spike to get air.

88 Freed From Trailer Earlier

Immigration agents said a tragedy in Orange County was averted July 8 when they found 88 aliens locked inside a tractor-trailer rig at the San Onofre truck weighing station on Interstate 5. They became suspicious after seeing liquid drip from the trailer.

On Wednesday, police and Border Patrol agents were not certain how many women and children were among the 37 people inside the trailer in Santa Ana.

“They didn’t have any water or sanitation,” Chavez said. “Because of the hot weather Wednesday, they were lucky they were caught.”

Dr. Michael J. Burns, with UCI Medical Center, said that because of Wednesday’s high temperatures in the trailer, “probably some of those inside would have died” of heat stroke.

Truck Was Reported Stolen

“It can especially affect the elderly and very young infants because they are less able to dissipate body heat,” he said.

The truck, which belongs to Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, was reported stolen from Compton, Chavez said. He said the truck hit a car, slightly injuring the driver, and continued east on Washington Avenue. Police stopped the truck near 17th Street and Tustin Avenue.

It was not known how long the group had been inside the trailer, but there were reports that they had been picked up by the truck south of the San Clemente checkpoint and driven from there to Santa Ana.

Michael Nicley, supervisory patrol agent with the Immigration and Naturalization Service in San Ysidro, said most in the group “opted for voluntary” return to Mexico, scheduled for Wednesday night.

Granillo was taken to Orange County Jail, where he was booked on two counts of possession of stolen property and felony hit and run.