Two people found dead in a railroad car in south Texas were Honduran men, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said in a statement Saturday, indicating it was investigating the case as possible human smuggling.
“We will continue to address the serious public safety threat posed by human smuggling organizations and their reckless disregard for the health and safety of those smuggled,” department spokesperson Nina Pruneda said in the statement.
Pruneda declined to comment beyond the statement, which said the investigation is ongoing but did not say whether any of the migrants were in custody.
The two dead were among 17 people—15 men and two women—found Friday in what Union Pacific railroad said were two rail cars near Knippa, Texas, about 70 miles west of San Antonio and less than 100 miles from the U.S. border with Mexico, according to Pruneda’s statement….