EAGLE PASS, Texas — Editor's note: The photo and video above are from Friday's incident in Knippa.
A man from Mexico was found dead in a train boxcar in Eagle Pass on Saturday, the second such incident on a Union Pacific train in Texas this weekend. Homeland Security has launched a human smuggling investigation.
11 other people were found in the box car, and authorities said they were from Ecuador, Mexico, Honduras and Colombia. On Friday, 17 migrants were found on a train near Knippa, and two had died. That train was heading east from Eagle Pass to San Antonio. In both cases, somebody inside the train car reportedly called 911 for help.
"At about 4:30 p.m. on March 25, 2023, Union Pacific was notified by the U.S. Border Patrol that they had found 12 people in a Union Pacific boxcar located in our railyard in Eagle Pass, Texas," a company spokesperson said. "One person died, three were taken to the local hospital and eight were detained. The U.S. Border Patrol searched and found the people after one of the individuals in the car called 911 emergency number. The incident is under investigation."
"Union Pacific is deeply saddened by this incident and Friday’s incident near Knippa. Our commitment to safety and to guarding human life is central to who we are as a company and as people. These incidents stand as a grim reminder of why we make every effort to stop people from trespassing on our property and on our trains."