Texas tragedy is apparently latest in global series of migrant suffocation deaths

Authorities in Texas say that 46 people believed to be migrants were found dead in a tractor-trailer and 16 others were taken to hospitals Monday in a remote part of San Antonio.

The deaths were apparently the latest in what has become a global series of mass deaths from suffocation or heat during human-trafficking attempts. Here’s a look at some of those incidents:

— June 27, 2022: 46 people believed to be migrants were found dead in a sweltering trailer on a remote back road in southwestern San Antonio.

— Oct. 23, 2019: 39 Vietnamese migrants were found dead in a truck trailer in Essex, England. Four men were jailed for manslaughter.

— July 23, 2017: Eight immigrants were found dead in a sweltering trailer at a San Antonio Walmart parking lot. Two others died later in hospitals. The driver was sentenced to life in prison.

— Feb. 20, 2017: 13 African migrants suffocated inside a shipping container while being transported between two towns in Libya. A total of 69 migrants, most from Mali, were packed into the container, according to the local Red Crescent branch.

World & Nation

At least 46 people believed to be migrants found dead in Texas tractor-trailer

Sixteen survivors were taken to hospitals, and three people were in federal custody Monday night, San Antonio police said.

June 28, 2022

— Aug. 27, 2015: Austrian police discovered an abandoned truck containing the bodies of 71 migrants, including eight children, from Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan. The truck, found along a highway, had crossed into Austria from Hungary.

— April 4, 2009: 35 Afghan migrants suffocated inside a shipping container in southwestern Pakistan. Authorities said that more than 100 people were packed inside the container.

— April 9, 2008: 54 Burmese migrants suffocated in the back of an airtight refrigerated truck in Ranong, Thailand.

— May 14, 2003: 19 migrants died inside a sweltering tractor-trailer while they traveled from southern Texas to Houston.

— June 18, 2000: 58 Chinese migrants were found dead inside a truck in the English port town of Dover. The Dutch truck had transported the migrants across the English Channel from Belgium. Two people survived.