Charged over truck tragedy
Driver could face death penalty for role in fatal human trafficking case in Texas.
SAN ANTONIO: The driver of a broiling tractor-trailer found packed with immigrants outside a Walmart in San Antonio has been charged in the deaths of 10 of his passengers and could face the death penalty.
James Matthew Bradley Jr, 60, of Clearwater, Florida, awaited an appearance in federal court yesterday to face charges of illegally transporting immigrants for financial gain, resulting in death.
Authorities discovered eight bodies inside the crowded 18-wheeler parked in the summer heat on Sunday, and two more victims died at the hospital.
Officials feared the death toll could rise because nearly 20 others rescued from the truck were in dire condition, many suffering from extreme dehydration and heatstroke.
“We’re looking at a human trafficking crime,” San Antonio Police Chief William McManus said, calling it “a horrific tragedy”.
It was not immediately known whether Bradley had an attorney who could speak on his behalf.
Authorities would not say whether the trailer was locked when they arrived, but they said it had no working air-conditioning.
The victims “were very hot to the touch, so these people were in this trailer without any signs of any type of water”, Fire Chief Charles Hood said.
It was the latest smuggling-by-truck operation to end in tragedy. In one of the worst cases on record in the United States, 19 immigrants locked inside a stifling rig died in Victoria, Texas, in 2003.
Based on initial interviews with survivors of the San Antonio case, more than 100 people may have been packed into the back of the truck at one point in its journey, said Thomas Homan, acting director of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Officials said 39 people were inside when rescuers arrived, and the rest were believed to have escaped or hitched rides to their next destination.
According to Mexican and Guatemalan diplomats, many of the immigrants were from both countries.
Four of the survivors appeared to be aged 10 to 17, Homan said.
Investigators gave no details on where the rig began its journey or where it was headed, but Homan said it was unlikely the truck was used to carry the immigrants across the border into the United States.
He said people from Latin America who rely on smuggling networks typically cross the border on foot and are then picked up by a driver.
“Even though they have the driver in custody, I can guarantee you there’s going to be many more people we’re looking for to prose- cute,” Homan said.
The truck had an Iowa licence plate and was registered to Pyle Transportation Inc of Schaller, Iowa.
San Antonio is about a 240km drive from the Mexican border. The temperature in San Antonio reached 38°C on Saturday and did not dip below 32°C until after 10pm.
The tragedy came to light after a person from the truck approached a Walmart employee and asked for water late Saturday night or early Sunday morning, said McManus.
The employee gave the person water and then called police.
On Sunday evening, about 100 people gathered at a San Antonio church for a vigil to mourn the dead.
Immigrants’ rights activists and church officials held up handmade signs reading “Who here is not an immigrant?” and “No human is illegal”.
Those gathered held a moment of silence, then gave speeches blaming federal and Texas authorities’ hardline immigration policies for contributing to the deaths by forcing immigrants to take greater risks to reach the United States.
“These tragedies are compounded when it’s incredibly dangerous and incredibly expensive, and we push migration into the hands of illicit actors,” immigration activist Bob Libal said in a telephone interview.
The Border Patrol has reported at least four truck seizures this month in and around Laredo, Texas.
On July 7, agents found 72 people crammed into a truck with no means of escape, the agency said.