TEXAS: Two men have been charged in connection with the deaths of 51 migrants in a truck

Juan Claudio D'Lona-Mendez and Juan Francisco D'Luna-Bilbao were charged with "possession of a weapon by a person who is not legally in the United States."

Both men have Mexican citizenship

News agencies

29/06/2022

Wednesday, 29 June 2022, 16:40 Updated: 16:43

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Two men have been charged in connection with the deaths of 51 immigrants found yesterday (Tuesday) in a hot truck in San Antonio, Texas, according to a criminal lawsuit filed in a Texas District Court.

Juan Claudio D'Lona-Mendez and Juan Francisco D'Luna-Bilbao have been charged with "possession of a weapon by a person who is not legally in the United States," according to the documents.

Authorities located the two after receiving the report of the abandoned truck.

"Police officers checked the Texas license plate that was on the semi-trailer and found that it belonged to a San Antonio resident," it read.

San Antonio police tracked down his residence and "noticed a Ford F-250 leaving the scene where a Hispanic man was driving."

The man was identified as Delona-Bilbao, who was in possession of a weapon.

In the same house, authorities identified another truck whose driver - a younger man - was identified as Delona-Mendes.

Both men have Mexican citizenship and are in the United States illegally, the documents said.

In the video: The truck in which the bodies of 46 immigrants were found in San Antonio Texas (Photo: Reuters)

San Antonio emergency services arrived at the scene yesterday after receiving several reports of her body, San Antonio Fire Chief Charles Hood said.

"We are not supposed to open a truck and see piles of corpses inside. None of us come to work and imagine such a thing," Hood said.

He said the truck, abandoned by the driver, had no air conditioning or drinking water.

Temperatures in San Antonio yesterday reached 40 degrees Celsius, and it is suspected that the victims died from heat stroke and dehydration.

San Antonio, 250 km from the Mexico-United States border, is a major route for smuggling people from South America. Traffickers usually use trucks to transport illegal immigrants.

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