A phone call from a Walmart employee led to the discovery of eight bodies and 30 people injured in the back of a tractor-trailer in Texas early Sunday, authorities said.
The employee told authorities the trailer was parked at a Walmart lot in San Antonio. A man who was in it asked the employee for water, San Antonio Police Chief William McManus said.
The employee brought water for the man, then called police and asked them to conduct a welfare check, McManus said.
When police arrived at the trailer, they found eight people dead and 30 suffering from various injuries, fire department spokesman Joe Arrington. He said 17 of those are critical condition, and 13 are in serious condition.
The air conditioner in the trailer was not working, officials said. And the high temperature in San Antonio on Saturday was a sweltering 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius).
Authorities don’t know where the trailer is from or how long it was parked at Walmart, but they are reviewing surveillance video. Police are also searching the area with helicopters after some people ran into the woods.
The driver was arrested, but police did not provide any information on him.
“The driver and whoever else we find is involved in this will be facing state and federal charges,” McManus said.
Once the victims undergo treatment, the case will be turned over to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the police chief said.
McManus said such incidents are not isolated.
“Fortunately, we came across this one and fortunately there are people who survived but this happens all the time,” he said. ” You can see that it happens late at night under darkness because they don’t want to be discovered.”