Victims are among more than 100 suspected illegal immigrants found crammed in a trailer. Man believed to be truck's driver arrested.

By Daryl Strickland and Scott Gold
Times Staff Writer

Authorities said 17 suspected illegal immigrants were found dead today at a truck stop near the south Texas town of Victoria, and one more
died at a hospital, in what is believed to be one of the worst cases of human smuggling near the U.S.-Mexican border in more than a decade.

The big rig truck carried more than 100 people, jammed into the trailer like cargo. At least 44 survivors, including a 15-year-old girl, were
being treated at nearby hospitals or housed at a community center. .

It is unclear whether those inside the trailer were illegal immigrants, but officials said while most came from Mexico, others were from El
Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. "This case involves the greatest loss of life in recent history in what appears to be an alien smuggling case,"
said Asa Hutchinson, undersecretary for border and transportation security at the Department of Homeland Security. He spoke at a press
conference in Washington, D.C.

Dexter Eaves, the Victoria County district attorney, said at a press conference that authorities will pursue "every ounce of justice" possible for
the victims.

A man believed to be one of the smugglers was arrested today in Houston, about 115 miles away, but had not been charged today. T. The
trailer, with New York state license plates, had been registered in the suspect's name to an address in Schenectady, N.Y., U.S. Attorney
Michael Shelby told the Associated Press.

Left behind in the trailer along Highway 77, about 230 miles north of the Mexico border, were dozens of people.

Responding to an emergency call, authorities opened the trailer's door about 2 a.m. and "a flood of human beings" spilled out. Some dashed off,
but others were too weak to run away, Shelby said.

Authorities found 13 bodies inside and four outside the unhitched tractor-trailer. The victims were believed to have died from suffocation, heatstroke and other
heat-related illnesses, Sheriff Michael Ratcliff said at a news conference today. The victims apparently tried to get fresh air by scraping away insulation that clogged
small holes in the trailer's back door. Reports ranged as high as 140 people were left in the trailer, but authorities late today were still trying to determine the exact
figure. It remained unclear where the truck and trailer were headed.

Six men, ranging in age from 20 to 47, had been taken to Detar Hospital Navarro, with at least one in critical condition. Ratcliff declined to say whether water
containers had been found inside the rig. He also declined to say how long he believed the victims had been inside the tractor-trailer, even as outside temperatures
soared.

The high Tuesday was 91, three degrees short of a record for that day set in 1980. Factoring in humidity, the temperature felt like 99 degrees, the National Weather
Service said.

Some believe that such grim discoveries are likely to become more common. Desperate foreigners are taking bigger risks because common routes into Texas and
other parts of the U.S. are more heavily guarded since the 9-11 terrorist attacks, said Lori Baker, a Baylor University professor.

"I'm afraid this will become more typical than in the past," said Baker, an anthropologist and DNA expert, who identifies the remains of immigrants who perish along
the U.S.-Mexican border.

The latest incident was one of several cases where immigrants attempting to enter the U.S. illegally under dangerous conditions have been found dead.

It is likely to be the highest number of deaths since 1987, when the U.S. Border Patrol discovered 18 Mexican immigrants dead in a railcar in Sierra Blanca, Texas.
A survivor told investigators that a smuggler had brought them across the U.S. border, placed them aboard a boxcar and locked the door.

In March, the driver of a pickup lost control and crashed head-on into a tractor-trailer, killing nine suspected illegal immigrants in Iowa.

In October, workers found 11 badly decomposed bodies in a railcar in Denison, Iowa. Officials estimated that the victims had been trapped inside the rail car for at
least four months.

Last July, authorities stopped a truck near Dallas and discovered two dead undocumented immigrants among at least 28 others who had been squeezed into a
tractor-trailer during a 600-mile trip to Dallas from El Paso.

In June 2002, at least 14 Mexican immigrants died and more than 100 others were rescued in separate incidents within a week across southern Arizona.

In the same month, a Mexican citizen was charged with smuggling after a vehicle he was driving the wrong way on Interstate 8 struck four oncoming vehicles, killing
six people and injuring several others near San Diego.

Two years ago, 14 Mexicans perished after being smuggled through the Arizona desert and abandoned. They were without water in temperatures of 115 degrees.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.