美国德州卡车人口走私案9人死亡

Police in Texas say they found eight people dead early Sunday in the back of a sweltering tractor-trailer in a Walmart parking lot. A ninth victim died in a hospital hours later.

Surveillance footage recorded vehicles pulling up to the truck Saturday night, taking a few people at a time from the trailer, then closing the truck and driving away.

The truck's human cargo was discovered after someone from the trailer asked a Walmart employee for water. That led to a police check, and the discovery of about 30 survivors, including two school-aged children, along with those who died - all adult men. Authorities at a hospital where the survivors were taken said 20 people were in critical condition.

"We're looking at a human trafficking crime this evening," San Antonio police chief William McManus said, calling the case a "horrific tragedy."

San Antonio's fire chief, Charles Hood, said it was likely no one would have survived another night in the trailer, after a day in which temperatures reached 38 degrees Celsius.

The trailer was a refrigerated freight carrier, but its cooling system was not working.

A 60-year-old man from Florida, said to be the truck's driver, was arrested, and authorities said he would face criminal charges in court on Monday.

Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly promised a thorough investigation.

"These smugglers have no regard for human life and seek only profits," Secretary Kelly said in a statement Sunday. He pledged that authorities in the U.S., Mexico and Central America will "root out these smugglers, bring them to justice and dismantle their networks."

There was no word on the nationality of the immigrants aboard the truck. San Antonio is a few hours' drive from the U.S.-Mexico border, but people smugglers who bring in illegal immigrants are patronized by people from a number of Central American countries as well as Mexico.

The Mexican government said in a statement it deeply regrets the deaths, and that it has called on authorities to conduct an exhaustive investigation.

美国德克萨斯州警方表示，他们在一辆拖挂卡车内发现八人死亡，拖挂卡车当时停在一家沃尔玛超市的停车场上。第九名遇难者几个小时后在医院死亡。

监控画面显示，星期六晚有几辆车停在卡车旁边，从卡车上接走几个人，然后驶离。

这辆卡车是车内有人向沃尔玛的员工要水时被发现的。警方赶来后搜查了卡车，发现车内有30名幸存者，包括两名学龄儿童，还有八名死者。死者均为成年男子。幸存者被送往医院救治。有关当局在医院表示，有20人情况危急。

圣安东尼奥警察局长威廉·麦克马纳斯称这是一起“可怕的惨剧”。他说：“我们认为这有可能是一起人口贩卖犯罪。”

圣安东尼奥消防局长查尔斯·胡德说，车内的人很暗再熬过一晚，白天的气温达到38摄氏度。

这辆拖挂卡车是一辆冷藏车，但车上的空调系统失灵。

据称，一名来自佛罗里达州的60岁男子是卡车的司机。这名男子已被逮捕。有关当局表示，他星期一将在法院面临刑事起诉。美国国土安全部部长凯利表示，要对事件进行全面调查。

凯利在星期天发表的一份声明中说，“人口贩子无视生命，只顾牟利。”他誓言，美国、墨西哥和中美洲国家将“取缔人口贩子和他们的网络，并将他们绳之以法。”

还不清楚卡车内人员是哪国人。圣安东尼奥距离美墨边境有几个小时的车程。一些中美洲国家和墨西哥的人员会找人口贩子把非法移民带进美国。

墨西哥政府在一份声明中说，对人员死亡感到遗憾，呼吁有关当局进行全面调查。