A “moving” call to 911 from a man who said that he and approximately 80 other migrants were trapped in the back of a tanker and struggling to breathe led to a massive search in the San Antonio, Texas area, said the sheriff. Bexar County to CBS. News on Wednesday.
At approximately 10 pm on February 8, a man called 911 and told the dispatcher that he and other undocumented migrants were arrested, according to a recording of the call obtained by CBS News.
“We need help,” said the interlocutor in Spanish. Others could be heard screaming, crying and breathing heavily during the nearly four-minute call.
“We are dying,” said the man, while others pleaded for help.
“We don’t have any more oxygen,” he added.
“How many people are there?” the dispatcher asked shortly after.
“80 people,” replied the man. The dispatcher, looking surprised, asked again – “How many? 80?” – but the call ended moments later.
Dispatchers received another call shortly thereafter. The caller said to the dispatcher that he and the other migrants were still stuck in the truck and did not know where they were.
“We don’t see anything, we are inside a tanker truck,” said the man, adding that he believed the truck was parked on the side of the road “because there are cars passing by.”
“You are literally listening to people who believe they are moments from death,” Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar told CBS News. Salazar said the calls were “painful” and left 911 dispatchers “visibly shaken”.
Local and federal agencies, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement, are investigating the links. The Bexar County Sheriff’s Office has released surveillance images of what it says is the truck in question – but Salazar noted the difficulty of locating a specific white tanker truck in or around a large city with several major highways.
“There is always hope,” said Salazar, when asked if the migrants could still be alive two days after the call.
“I can’t imagine what they went through,” he added, expressing his concern about the possibility that the truck driver had abandoned the vehicle when he realized the seriousness of the situation.
“I don’t even want to imagine what would happen if this guy, or people, parked this trailer, walked away from it and left it,” he said. “These people are under arrest and God knows what will happen to them at that point.”
When asked if he thought the calls could be a scam, Salazar said he bet “the rest of my wages for the rest of my life that this is not a scam”.
“What we were hearing was very real,” he said.
Salazar noted that “thousands” of people are victims of human smuggling every day, and said the 911 calls provide “a very dark reminder of exactly what these people are up against.”
“These people are … huddled in a truck they can’t get out of,” he added. “They are at the mercy of these traffickers.”
In a broader statement issued on Wednesday on border control numbers, Customs and Border Protection noted the danger of human trafficking operations.
“Very often, our agents find human remains or find lost migrants who are sick, injured and abandoned by smugglers. We are also seeing migrants subjected to inhuman conditions locked in tractor trailers, car chests, wagons and crowded hiding places. It is extremely dangerous. , especially in the COVID era, “said the agency.
Camilo Montoya-Galvez contributed reporting.