Memorial for 19 Dead in Smuggler’s Truck
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Family members of immigrants who died in the back of an airtight trailer during a smuggling attempt met for a tearful memorial in Victoria, placing flowers along a roadside where the trailer was found.
On May 14, 2003, 17 people died of dehydration, overheating and suffocation inside the trailer. Two died later. It was the nation’s deadliest smuggling attempt. Dora Torres pointed to the spot where her teenage son Jorge died. “I’m very sad on this day,” Torres said in Spanish.
Truck driver Tyrone Williams, who abandoned the trailer packed with more than 70 illegal immigrants along the highway in Victoria, was convicted in March of 38 counts of transporting illegal immigrants.
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