The US Border Patrol stopped a freight train in Texas after they were notified that a group of immigrants was suffocating inside one of the wagons. Unfortunately, two of them couldn’t make it and passed away.

The train was stopped near Knippa, Texas, east of San Antonio in the afternoon (local time) of Friday, 24 March. The Uvalde Police received the first anonymous 911 call claiming that numerous undocumented migrants were suffocating inside the train. US media outlet KSAT added that the total number of people involved was 17: 15 men and two women. As the Uvalde Police pointed out, Union Pacific will now lead the investigation.

Highway 90, running near the site where the train was stopped, was closed to allow the landing of helicopters and the arrival of ambulances. KSAT also claimed three of the 17 migrants were taken into Border Patrol custody. A spokesperson for the Texas Department of Public Safety said on Fox News that the survivors will likely be “released into the country once they’re cleared from the hospital”.

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