Eleven other people continue to be treated in local hospitals.
The death toll from the tragedy in San Antonio, in the US state of Texas – where dozens of migrants were found dead or exhausted from heatstroke in a truck tug – has reached 53 dead, the US Immigration Service announced on Wednesday.
Eleven other people continue to be treated in local hospitals, they added, without specifying the severity of their condition.
An earlier official report, released on Tuesday, put the death toll at 51, with 39 men and 12 women.
Of the 53 victims, 27 were Mexican, 14 Honduran, 7 Guatemalan and 2 El Salvador, said Francisco Gardunio, head of Mexico’s immigration service.
Three more remain to be recognized.
The macabre finding came Monday night when a San Antonio municipal employee heard a desperate cry for help near the road where he worked and was able to half-open the door of the truck.
The first aid services removed 46 corpses and 16 “unconscious” people from the truck, including four children, and transported them to nearby hospitals.
After a day when the temperature was almost 40 ° Celsius, they suffered from heatstroke and acute dehydration.
Police arrested two men at an address linked to the truck’s license plates on Tuesday, according to court documents.
Juan Francisco de Luna Bilbao and Juan Claudio de Luna Mendes, Mexican nationals whose tourist visas have expired, are among others facing prosecution for illegal possession of weapons.
A third person suspected of being the driver of the truck was also arrested near the location where the heavy vehicle was parked, while he was “under the influence of methamphetamine”, according to the San Antonio Express-News, which cited sources close to to the police.
In the aftermath of the tragedy, Mexico, the United States, Honduras and Guatemala pledged to coordinate their efforts and provide “cooperation and support” in the investigation conducted by the US authorities, according to a joint statement released yesterday by the Mexican embassy in Washington.
The four countries also announced the creation of an “immediate action group” to “exchange information and coordinate work to dismantle human trafficking networks”.
US President Joe Biden demanded on Tuesday that the fight against this “criminal industry” with a turnover of “billions of dollars” be escalated.
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