The six people whose remains were discovered in a cargo train boxcar in South Texas were identified as Mexican and Honduran nationals, officials said Monday night.
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The Laredo Police Department was called to a Union Pacific train on Sunday afternoon after an employee reported a “trailer box car with the discovery of multiple casualties in the car.”
The victims have been identified as five males and one female, ranging in age from 14 to 56, according to the Webb County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Two are from Honduras, a 14-year-old boy and a 24-year-old man, the medical examiner said. The three known Mexican victims are a woman, 29, and two men, 45 and 56.
“Following initial examinations, it has been determined that the female victim succumbed to hyperthermia,” Webb County Medical Examiner Corinne Stern said in the Monday night news release. “While formal examinations for the remaining five individuals are still pending, it is highly probable that hyperthermia was the cause of death for the entire group.”
The release added that the remaining exams would be completed on Tuesday. The age and national origin of the sixth victim, a male, were not immediately available.
“The Webb County Medical Examiner’s Office is working in close coordination with the Mexican Consulate to facilitate communication with the families of the deceased, ensure positive identification, and assist in the repatriation process as efficiently as possible,” the release added.
Police said that a seventh person found dead near railroad tracks in San Antonio on Monday is believed to be connected to the victims found on the train.
Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar said Monday that the seventh person may have fallen off the train or been thrown out, which is why he was found in San Antonio, about 160 miles northeast of Laredo. The sheriff identified him only as a male.
“At this point, the prevailing theory is that he’s a resident of Mexico that was among the group that was being smuggled into the country in one of these shipping containers,” Salazar said at a Monday news conference.
The border town of Laredo is one of Texas’ largest ports of entry from Mexico.