‘We are dying.’ 911 call about migrants trapped in tanker has Texas police searching
A frantic 911 call has federal and San Antonio-area officials searching for an 18-wheeler that may have dozens of migrants trapped in the back.
A man called 911 around 10 p.m. Monday explaining to the dispatcher in Spanish that he was trapped and in danger, CBS reported.
“We need help,” the caller says as yelling and crying is heard in the background, according to the outlet. He goes on to tell the dispatcher “we are dying” and “we don’t have any more oxygen.”
The call drops just after the man tells the dispatcher there are 80 people — who officials believe to be migrants who are undocumented — in the truck, CBS reported. But he soon calls back.
“We don’t see anything, we are inside of a tanker,” the man says, adding that he thought the truck was parked on a roadside “because cars are driving by,” according to the outlet.
The Bexar County Sheriff’s Office tracked the cellphone signal and determined the truck may have been on I-35, KENS reported.
Surveillance video from a Van Ormy business shows a white tanker following a black pickup truck before it pulls over on the shoulder, the outlet reported. Sheriff Javier Salazar believes it may be the truck officials are searching for.
“This truck could be here locally, or it could be in another part of the country by now. We just don’t know,” Salazar told KENS.
The truck was captured on video near the area where the cellphone call came from, KABB reported.
Salazar added that the call was disturbing.
“It’s heartbreaking to hear because clearly behind the caller, in the background, you can hear others in the car, in the trailer and they’re also screaming for help in Spanish and saying that they’re out of air,” Salazar told KABB.
The sheriff’s department, San Antonio police, the Department of Homeland Security and the agency’s investigative team are asking anyone who may have information to come forward, KABB reported.
In a statement to KENS, Homeland Security Investigations said it “is looking into an incident along with local law enforcement partners regarding a possible human smuggling event. No further details can be released at this time since the matter remains ongoing.”
Salazar said smugglers can’t be counted on to do the right thing.
“I bet a lot of money, that if the smugglers do encounter somebody in the back of that trailer that is very, very ill, as a result of the conditions they were exposed to or even dead,” he told KABB. “They’re not going to do the right thing, they’re going to dump a body or they’re going to abandon somebody at a hospital, maybe. They’re certainly not going to do the right thing and so we’re letting our deputies know to be on the lookout for anything.”
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Homeland Security anonymous tip-line at 866-347-2423.
