Indicted over fatal US trip

THE driver of a tractor-trailer packed with people illegally entering the United States in an alleged human-smuggling operation has been indicted on charges related to the deaths of 10 people inside.

James Matthew Bradley Jr was indicted by a federal grand jury in San Antonio on five counts.

At least 39 people were inside the trailer as it drove from the border city of Laredo to San Antonio, 240km north. The trailer’s refrigeration system was broken and investigators said passengers struggled to breathe as the temperature rose to risky levels.