6 Bodies Found in Boxcar Near Border

A rail worker loading train cars in Laredo, Texas, on Sunday afternoon opened a boxcar and found six bodies inside, local police say. The discovery was reported around 3pm at a Union Pacific rail yard near the US-Mexico border city, where temperatures hit a high of 97 degrees, per NBC News. Authorities have not released the victims' identities or causes of death and say it's not yet clear whether they were migrants. Union Pacific said it was "saddened" and is cooperating with investigators.

The case echoes a series of deadly incidents in recent years in which people, often migrants, have been found in rail cars, trucks, or shipping containers near the border, exposed to extreme heat. In 2022, 53 migrants died in a tractor-trailer near San Antonio, one of the deadliest smuggling cases on record. In 2023, two people believed to be migrants were found dead in a train container in Uvalde County, and the following year, Border Patrol agents in Laredo rescued 23 migrants from a locked train compartment as temperatures neared 100 degrees, per the New York Times. The investigation into Sunday's case is ongoing.