TAKING TURNS TO BREATHE
Horrifying last hours of doomed truck immigs
The immigrants inside a sweltering tractor-trailer that left 10 dead on a Texas highway last weekend struggled to breathe by taking turns sucking air through a single small hole in the side of the vehicle, according to a federal complaint filed Monday.
The frantic passengers pounded on the walls of the truck to draw the attention of driver James Matthew Bradley — but were unable to get him to stop as they slowly asphyxiated inside the dark space, federal authorities said.
The group of migrants — which included children — started suffering soon after the start of their 150-mile trip from Laredo to San Antonio, one survivor said.
“After an hour, I heard . . . people crying and asking for water,” 27year-old Adan Lalravega said from a hospital bed. “I, too, was sweating and people were despairing. That’s when I lost consciousness.”
On Monday, officials slapped Bradley, 60, of Clearwater, Fla., with charges that could get him the death penalty. He claims that he had no idea people were inside the back of his truck.
“The driver never stopped,” the complaint states, citing accounts from victims. “People had a hole in the trailer wall to provide some ventilation and they starting taking turns breathing from the hole.”
Authorities on Sunday discovered the bodies of eight dead men inside the crowded 18-wheeler parked in the 100-degree summer heat. Two more victims died at the hospital, and the death toll is expected to rise, as more than a dozen remain in severe condition.
Bradley told investigators he had been hired to transport the big rig from Iowa to Brownsville, Texas. He claimed he only discovered he was hauling migrants when he parked at a Walmart in San Antonio to use the bathroom.
He said he heard banging and opened the trailer door and was “surprised when he was run over by ‘Spanish’ people and knocked to the ground,” according to the federal complaint.
Horrified, he looked inside and spotted bodies sprawled out, “just lying on the floor like meat,” the complaint states.
Bradley claimed he tried to help the passengers but authorities noted he failed to call 911. Instead, he called his wife, they said.
Some of the undocumented immigrants hid out in a “stash house” for 11 days before entering the truck, the complaint states.
One passenger, identified only as J.M.M-J, told investigators that he and a group of 28 others crossed the Mexican border into the US illegally on three raft trips and paid $5,500 to be taken by trailer north, according to the federal complaint.
“The next day at 9 a.m., group was picked up by a silver Chevrolet Silverado truck and taken to the trailer that he later traveled in. He stated his group was the last of a larger group that was already inside,” the complaint states. “He estimated that there were already about 70 people inside.”
The passengers waited for hours without food or water in the hot truck before it took off, according to authorities.
At one point, a man opened the door and told the passengers not to worry because it would be refrigerated, the complaint said.
Bradley allegedly told investigators that he knew the trailer refrigeration system didn’t work and that the four ventilation holes were probably clogged.
San Antonio Fire Chief Charles Hood described the terrible scene.
The victims “were very hot to the touch. So these people were in this trailer without any signs of any type of water,” he said.
Bradley appeared in court Monday and was charged of illegally transporting immigrants for financial gain, resulting in death.
US Magistrate Judge Elizabeth Chestney told Bradley he could face the death penalty if convicted.