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Police near San Antonio report that 48 migrants are dead and at least 16 others were transported to local hospitals after being locked inside a tractor-trailer. Two more died after receiving medical care. A worker found the tractor-trailer on the southwest side of San Antonio on a back road near Interstate 35. Police say the driver may have been involved in a human smuggling incident.

A senior law enforcement source on the scene told Breitbart Texas that 46 migrants were declared dead on the scene or at area hospitals and at least 16 others were taken to area hospitals. The dead-on-scene figure was later revised to 48. A source on the scene says they have a person of interest in custody. That person was also reportedly transported to an area hospital. At least 60 migrants were packed inside the trailer.

Among the dead were teenage migrants, KSAT reported . It is not known if they were accompanied or not. Four minors survived and were taken to area hospitals, officials reported in a Monday night press conference.

Due to the circumstances, ICE Homeland Security Investigations special agents were called in and are taking charge of the investigation. Border Patrol agents are also reported to be on the scene.

At Least 42 People Found Dead Inside Truck Carrying Migrants In Texas.

These deaths are on Biden.

They are a result of his deadly open border policies.

They show the deadly consequences of his refusal to enforce the law. https://t.co/8KG3iAwlEk

— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) June 28, 2022

The law enforcement source told Breitbart the person of interest may have attempted to blend in with the migrants and was transported to a hospital. San Antonio Police Chief William McManus told reporters there are three people in custody in connection to the deaths. He did not indicate what their connection to the incident is, KXAN reported .

“At Least 42 People Found Dead Inside Truck Carrying Migrants In Texas. These deaths are on Biden. They are a result of his deadly open border policies. They show the deadly consequences of his refusal to enforce the law.” – GOV. GREG ABBOTT https://t.co/LIz1VheQNj pic.twitter.com/ntYblXwb1h

— News 4 San Antonio (@News4SA) June 28, 2022

Chief McManus said a worker heard cries for help coming from inside the trailer. The worker opened the partially opened door and observed dead migrants inside.

Breitbart Texas reports extensively on the practice of human smugglers moving migrants in tractor-trailers.

Earlier this month, local police agents found two migrants dead in a tractor-trailer loaded with 111 migrants, Breitbart Texas reported . La Salle County Sheriff’s deputies responded to frantic 911 calls from migrants being smuggled in a semi-tractor trailer near Encinal, Texas, on Friday. Dispatchers could hear screams from migrants trapped inside the closed trailer traveling north and away from the border on Interstate 35. When the vehicle was encountered, two migrants were dead and 111 were apprehended after an exhaustive search.

Breitbart Texas reached out to HSI officials for additional information. A response was not available at press time. Officials did say they would be sending a statement shortly. This article will be updated at that time.

Nearly five years ago, San Antonio police found another tractor-trailer where eight migrants were dead and 20 others were listed in critical or serious condition.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Beto O’Rourke , the former congressman hoping to unseat Abbott in November, had sharply differing responses after 46 people were found dead in an abandoned tractor-trailer in San Antonio on Monday.

At least 16 others, including four children, were transported to local hospitals suffering from heat exhaustion, officials said at the scene of thee latest tragedy involving migrants smuggled across the border from Mexico.

Abbott, a Republican, was quick to place blame for the deaths on President Joe Biden .

“These deaths are on Biden,”Abbott tweeted on Monday night. “They are a result of his deadly open border policies. They show the deadly consequences of his refusal to enforce the law.”

O’Rourke, meanwhile, avoided pointing the finger in his response.

“This is devastating. Our thoughts go out to the families of those who lost their lives in San Antonio today,” he said in a tweet.

“We need urgent action — dismantle human smuggling rings and replace them with expanded avenues for legal migration that reflect our values and meet our country’s needs.”

O’Rourke notably clashed with Abbott last month after 19 children and two teachers were killed by a gunman in an elementary school in Uvalde, also in southern Texas. O’Rourke accused his rival of “doing nothing” to curb gun violence in the state.

San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg called the San Antonio discovery a “horrific human tragedy.”

“More than 40 hopeful lives were lost,” he said on Twitter Monday. “I urge you to think compassionately, pray for the deceased, the ailing, and their families at this moment.”

U.S. Homeland Security Investigations is investigating the incident, San Antonio Police Chief William McManus has said.

Three people were taken into custody, but it was not clear if they were definitively connected with human trafficking, McManus said.

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, policy director at the American Immigration Council, also connected the incident to the Biden administration’s policies and said had been “dreading another tragedy like this for months now.”

“With the border shut as tightly as it is today for migrants from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, people have been pushed into more and more dangerous routes,” he wrote on Twitter. “Truck smuggling is way up.”

Other advocates blamed the immigration policies of former president Donald Trump and Abbott.

“This tragedy is only the latest case of unscrupulous coyotes putting profit over the lives of real human beings,” said Lydia Guzman, the national immigration committee chair at the League of United Latin American Citizens.

“Sadly, this is a result of our broken immigration system. The lack of real immigration reform puts migrants in danger of falling victims to unscrupulous smugglers.”

Migrants attempting to cross the U.S.-Mexico border have been expelled more than 2 million times under Title 42, a controversial Trump-era policy that has limited asylum for more than two years.

The policy, which was put in place in March 2020 to limit the spread of COVID-19, encourages repeat attempts because there are no legal consequences for getting caught. A federal judge recently ordered the policy remain in effect after the Biden administration attempted to rescind it.

Abbott, O’Rourke and the White House have been contacted for comment.

Update 6/28/22, 6:16 a.m. ET: A composite image showing O’Rourke, Abbott and the site of the tragedy in San Antonia has been added to this article.