Tag Archives: oceania

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Three in custody after 46 found dead inside truck in Texas

Three people have been taken into custody after more than 40 bodies of migrants have been found dead in a truck in Texas.

Authorities are currently at the scene in San Antonio's south-west where a truck was found with 46 people dead inside, Fire Chief Charles Hood confirmed.

Sixteen people who were found alive, including 12 adults and four children, have been rushed to hospital.

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At least 42 migrants found dead in truck in San Antonio, Texas.At least 42 migrants found dead in truck in San Antonio, Texas.

The survivors were all suffering heat-related injuries, Hood added.

Mexico's Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard confirmed two of the survivors were from Guatemala.

The truck was found next to railway tracks in a remote area of San Antonio.

Ebrard also said the truck had EU number plates designed to circulate without inspection.

"Very likely the responsibility of traffickers," he said.

https://twitter.com/m_ebrard/status/1541611282868174848

San Antonio Police Chief William McManus said a worker nearby heard a cry for help around 5pm Texas time (8am AEST) and went to investigate.

"(They) found a trailer with the doors partially open and opened them up to take a look and found a number of deceased individuals inside," McManus said.

Hood said a body was found outside the truck and the remainder were found inside the trailer.

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San Antonio Police Chief William McManus addresses the migrant deaths.

McManus said three people have been taken into custody however it is not clear whether they are "absolutely connected or not".

He added it is now a federal investigation.

It is not clear how the people died but towns across Texas have experienced a heatwave throughout June with temperatures rising above 39 degrees.

San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg called it a "horrific human tragedy".

"We hope those who are responsible for putting these people in such inhumane conditions are prosecuted to the full extent of the law," he said.

https://twitter.com/m_ebrard/status/1541594347971526657

Ebrard posted on Twitter confirming consul had arrived at the scene to assist with inquiries.

"Tragedy in Texas. They reportedly suffocated inside a trailer," Ebrard said.

"Condolences to the victims and their families."

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Police block the scene where a semitrailer with multiple dead bodies was discovered in San Antonio.

The Texan Governor Greg Abbott posted on Twitter blaming US President Joe Biden for the deaths.

"These deaths are on Biden. They are a result of his deadly open border policies," Abbott wrote.

"They show the deadly consequences of his refusal to enforce the law."

https://twitter.com/GregAbbott_TX/status/1541596214705135617

It may be the deadliest tragedy among thousands who have died attempting to cross the US border from Mexico in recent decades.

San Antonio's Police Chief said it is the largest death toll he can recall in the city's history.

Ten migrants died in 2017 after being trapped inside a truck that was parked at a Walmart in San Antonio.

In 2003, 19 migrants were found in a sweltering truck southeast of San Antonio.

Big trucks emerged as a popular smuggling method in the early 1990s amid a surge in US border enforcement in San Diego and El Paso, Texas, which were then the busiest corridors for illegal crossings.

Body bags lie at the scene where a truck with multiple dead bodies was discovered in San Antonio.

Before that, people paid small fees to mum-and-pop operators to get them across a largely unguarded border.

As crossing became exponentially more difficult after the 2001 terror attacks in the US, migrants were led through more dangerous terrain and paid thousands of dollars more.

Heat poses a serious danger, particularly when temperatures can rise severely inside vehicles.

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Rudy Giuliani claims supermarket worker's pat on the back was assault

Police have dropped felony charges against a supermarket worker former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani accused of assault, after CCTV revealed the man patted him on the back.

Giuliani, who served as Donald Trump's lawyer during his administration, was campaigning for his son's gubernatorial campaign in the New York borough of Staten Island.

CCTV showed supermarket worker Daniel Gill walking up behind Giuliani and patting him on the back.

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Rudy Giuliani said he was 'almost knocked down' by this grocery worker.

"What's up, scumbag," Gill is purported to have said.

Giuliani, himself a former prosecutor, had Gill arrested.

"I got hit as if a boulder hit me," Giuliani said.

"It didn't knock me down, but it hurt tremendously."

Gill was charged with second degree assault and has been suspended from his job "pending termination".

"He almost knocked me down. Thank God for a 78-year-old, I am in pretty good shape," Giuliani said.

"If I wasn't, I would have hit the ground and probably cracked my skull."

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Andrew Giuliani has recruited his father Rudy to campaign for him in his gubernatorial run.

Gill was held by the New York Police Department for 24 hours before the felony charges were dropped.

He has since been charged with third-degree assault, a misdemeanour, third-degree menacing and second-degree harassment.

The Legal Aid Society, which is representing Gill, said the charges were inconsistent with existing law.

"Our client merely patted Mr Giuliani, who sustained nothing remotely resembling physical injuries, without malice to simply get his attention, as the video footage clearly showed," the society said in a statement.

"Given Mr Giuliani's obsession with seeing his name in the press and his demonstrated propensity to distort the truth, we are happy to correct the record on exactly what occurred over the weekend on Staten Island."

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Rudy Giuliani met with a Ukrainian politician named in a intelligence report as a Russian operative.

Giuliani's son Andrew is running as a Republican in the New York primary for governor.

"The assault on my father, America's Mayor, was over politics," the younger Giuliani said in a statement.

"We will not be intimidated by left-wing attacks."

A poll by SurveyUSA last week shows Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul has a 26-point lead on the younger Giuliani.