Two Migrants Dead, 5 Airlifted in Railcar Smuggling Incident near Border in Texas

Police responding to a 911 call from inside a rail car near Uvalde, Texas, on Friday evening found two migrants dead, according to law enforcement sources on the scene. Five additional migrants were unresponsive and had to be airlifted to San Antonio-area hospitals. Five other migrants were transported by ambulance to a local hospital.

UPDATE, 7:40 p.m.: Uvalde Police Department officials sent out an updated statement Friday evening. The statement reports a 911 caller stated numerous undocumented migrants were “suffocating” inside a train car. Police contacted the Union Pacific Railroad who stopped the train near Knippa, Texas.
The statement updates earlier information obtained from Texas DPS and other law enforcement sources. The statement confirms the deaths of two migrants at the scene. Police report five additional migants were airlifted to San Antonio hospitals and five others were transported by ground to local area hospitals. The highway has been reopened to traffic.

Original Story Continues: 

Law enforcement 991 operators in Uvalde County received an emergency call from a migrant located inside a rail car near Knippa, Texas, late Friday afternoon. Police, Border Patrol agents, and fire rescue teams responded to the location and began searching for the migrants believed to be trapped inside a sealed rail car, according to multiple sources not authorized to speak to the media.

The rescue teams eventually located the locked rail car by going car to car tapping on the sides of the cars until they received a response. First responders gained access to the trapped migrants. Multiple sources said two migrants were found dead at the scene and most of the remaining 14 migrants were unresponsive.

Four migrants were reportedly airlifted to San Antonio-area hospitals after being found unresponsive. Local ambulances transported the remaining migrants to local hospitals. The surviving migrants are in critical condition, Texas DPS spokesman, Lt. Chris Olivarez told Breitbart Texas. The Uvalde County Sheriff’s Office is leading the investigation into the incident, Olivares added.

Police have closed the highway that runs along the rail line to process the scene.

Breitbart Texas reached out to Border Patrol officials for additional information regarding the migrant smuggling incident that appears to have claimed at least two lives.

Human smugglers frequently use rail cars to transport migrants from the border region to the interior of Texas and the United States. It is not uncommon for migrants to be injured or even die from this dangerous human smuggling tactic.

Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior news contributor for the Breitbart Texas-Border team. He is an original member of the Breitbart Texas team. Price is a regular panelist on Fox 26 Houston’s What’s Your Point? Sunday-morning talk show. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX.

Randy Clark is a 32-year veteran of the United States Border Patrol.  Prior to his retirement, he served as the Division Chief for Law Enforcement Operations, directing operations for nine Border Patrol Stations within the Del Rio, Texas, Sector. Follow him on Twitter @RandyClarkBBTX.

Editor’s Note: This is a developing story. Information reported above could change as additional information becomes available.