Profound Grief: 53 Migrants found dead; deadliest smuggling attempt in History

[VaqueroTD]

I can tell we have a lot of Cowboys fans who never went to Texas. Anyone who has been in that Texas summer heat, not even having to go all the way to the border to feel it, would not be surprised a trailer full of people stroked out fast.

 

[G2]

If you were able to knock a hole in the door, you could just do it where the latch is attached, and knock the whole latch off the door, but you'd need something like a sledge hammer, axe, or saw. I don't think you could even do much with a pry bar.

If you're talking about just making a small hole and putting some wire or something through, even that's unlikely, but if you somehow managed, you'd have to find and lift the stopper out of the way, and lift the latch at the same time. The swing of the handle is 180 degrees, and about a foot in distance, and even with a brand new trailer it would require probably about 10 pounds of pressure to lift. And that's with a roll up door. A swinging door would be virtually impossible to open without making a hole big enough to fit your arm through.

Roll up door

Swinging door

We've done extrication training on the trailers w/ the double doors you posted a pic of ^
We were on SCBA, had radio communications, hand tools and hydraulic extrication tools and we were able to get through the front and sides before the doors. They're designed to stop freight from spilling out the back. Those poor people.

 

[Pass2Run]

First, they probably died while the truck was going 60 mph in the desert.

Second, there's no way you could get out of one without tools. Whether it was a roll up door or a dual swing pair of doors, they're latched from the outside and about a half inch to three quarter inch thick wood, or a combination of wood and fiberglass. Of course, if depending on the type of trailer, it could be steel doors.

Third, by the time they realized the trailer wouldn't be opened in time for them to survive, they were probably too tired to even try. I imagine they made a lot of noise for a while.

They need to change the laws, and require that every truck trailer like this have a way to get out from the inside.

This isn't the first time this kind of thing has happened.

My heart goes out to all here.

 

[Runwildboys]

They need to change the laws, and require that every truck trailer like this have a way to get out from the inside.

This isn't the first time this kind of thing has happened.

My heart goes out to all here.

Unfortunately, it's not like a walk-in freezer, where you can accidentally lock yourself in. If you're inside, it's because someone closed the door from the outside, and there are no safeguards I can think of to prevent that. The only purpose to changing the latches the way you're suggesting is for cases like this, which aren't legal anyway.

The coyotes aren't going to allow the people inside to risk their operation by having the ability to open the door whenever they want to.

 

[Pass2Run]

Unfortunately, it's not like a walk-in freezer, where you can accidentally lock yourself in. If you're inside, it's because someone closed the door from the outside, and there are no safeguards I can think of to prevent that. The only purpose to changing the latches the way you're suggesting is for cases like this, which aren't legal anyway.

The coyotes aren't going to allow the people inside to risk their operation by having the ability to open the door whenever they want to.

Correct.

And that's what I'm talking about. With all the engineering we have nowadays, they should require some way to get out of these trailers even if they are latched and locked. That's all I'm saying.

That, and they should use the technology we currently have to see inside these things to determine whether people are inside.

This is a terrible tragedy that could have been avoided.

Criminal penalty, if caught, should be less, as long as safety measures are followed, abided by. Lives could have been saved if they had taken more measures for safety.

I hope those responsible get every bit of Karma that's coming their way.

 

[lukin2006]

This was such a tragedy. People just wanting a better life…that’s all they want…

 

[CalPolyTechnique]

This was such a tragedy. People just wanting a better life…that’s all they want…

Trust me. There's folks on the board that think those people are nothing more than animals trying to "steal their way of life."

 

[Ranched]

Two men were indicted Wednesday (20th) on federal charges in the deaths of 53 migrants who died after the tractor-trailer they were in was found abandoned in San Antonio last month, federal prosecutors said.

Homero Zamorano Jr., 46, and Christian Martinez, 28, had previously been charged, but a federal grand jury on Wednesday returned indictments against both that could result in life in prison or the death penalty, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas said.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-new...uck-smuggling-case-53-migrants-died-rcna39256