HOUSTON, July 23 (Xinhua) -- Eight people were found dead in a trailer at a Walmart parking area in southern Texas City of San Antonio early Sunday morning, which reminds the public of the past trafficking disasters in Texas State.
In April, 2012, nine Mexican immigrants died near the border after their van crashed as they fled pursuing Border Patrol agents. The minivan was crammed with 18 people in a shocking example of a common tactic smugglers use to ramp up profit margins with dangerously crowded vehicles.
In July, 2012, an extended cab pickup truck carrying 23 people crashed along Highway 59 which begins at the Mexico-U.S. border, leaving at least 14 people dead near the South Texas town of Goliad. Afterward, authorities struggled to identify the victims, believed to be from Mexico, Honduras and Guatemala.
In 2013, another deadly pursuit left at least seven immigrants dead after a pickup truck carrying 15 people crashed into a security barrier. Emergency crews had to use hydraulic rescue tools to extricate victims from the mangled wreckage.
In 2015, six died after a police chase on Highway 59 ended in a horrific crash. Two injured survivors among the 14 crammed into the speeding Ford Explorer tried to flee the wreckage but were soon captured by authorities.
The Highway 59 is one of the major human smuggling routes, according to a Houston High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area report. For many, the final destination is Houston.
Local media reported on Sunday that in 2003, 19 people died after a truck driver abandoned a milk trailer full of dozens of immigrants outside a truck stop near Victoria, southeastern Texas. The victims, including children, suffocated after the driver ignored their frantic banging in a catastrophe described in the New York Times as "the nation's deadliest human trafficking case."
