Five migrants attempting to cross the border into Texas reportedly died inside a hot train car.
According to the authorities, the bodies were discovered by Mexican authorities during the train’s southbound return this week near the rail crossing between Piedras Negras, Coahuila, and Eagle Pass, Texas.
The law enforcement sources in Coahuila also revealed that the gruesome discovery took place after the rail car passed through a scanning device.
However, at the time of writing it remains unclear why the bodies were not discovered on the railcar’s trip north.
Upon the discovery, the authorities informed the Piedras Negras Fire Civil Protection Department.
They also revealed that the temperature inside the rail car was so high and was extremely dangerous to the human body that rescue workers had to be treated for dehydration and severe heat exposure.
“It’s all-metal, the vents were all closed, this was an oven,” Francisco Contreras, the coordinator for Civil Protection said.
In an official statement released by the Coahuila Public Security Secretariat, it was revealed that the group is believed to have died from heat exposure. The cause of death is still under investigation and the identity of the five migrants have not been identified.
At the time of writing, Coahuila has reported 83 fatalities so far this year as migrants continue trying to cross the border into Texas.
Reports revealed that most of the fatalities reported have been drownings in the Rio Grande, while a smaller number are from heat exposure.
In a separate report just this week, a train narrowly missed a group of migrants on a rail bridge as they attempted to cross the border near Texas.
The five fleeing males reportedly ignored the warning and continued onto a railroad bridge rising some 100 feet off the ground near Sunland Park, New Mexico.
Following the dangerous incident, the federal officials have also warned the public of the dangers of smugglers placing migrants who are unfamiliar with the US-Mexico border.
“We have trains, water canals, a border barrier system and rough terrain. The migrants don’t know the schedule of the trains, they don’t know which direction to go. That’s the situation they’re placed in by ruthless smuggling organizations,” Agent Carlos A. Rivera, a U.S. Border Patrol spokesman said.
“We definitely want people to be aware of the dangers and not place their lives in the hands of smugglers,” Rivera added.
