At least 42 people were found dead Monday in a big-rig truck in San Antonio, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said.
He said on Twitter that the 18-wheeler was being used to transport migrants. The grim discovery was made late Monday afternoon in an undeveloped area of southwest San Antonio near the railroad tracks.
The heat will likely be a focus for those investigating the deaths. Temperatures climbed to 101 on Monday, according to the National Weather Service.
The heat inside a trailer packed with humans was likely significantly greater than the high temperature might indicate.
A committee of the National Association of Medical Examiners has recommended that bodies with a temperature of 105 or greater at the time of collapse be certified as heat-related deaths.
Abbott blamed the deaths on President Joe Biden. His immigration policies “show the deadly consequences of his refusal to enforce the law,” Abbott tweeted.
In 2017, 10 migrants died in a packed truck carrying 39 people in San Antonio in the heat of summer.
Driver James Mathew Bradley Jr., 60, of Clearwater, Fla., pleaded guilty to conspiracy and transporting migrants, although his wife said he did not know people were in the trailer.