According to Mexico’s president, “poverty and desperation” led to the deaths of at least 50 migrants abandoned in a Texas truck.

Read More: Russia threatens to cut off European gas supply

Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador accused human trafficking and “a lack of control” at the border for the highest number of migrant fatalities in the United States attributable to smuggling.

There were almost twenty Mexicans, seven Guatemalans, and two Hondurans among the deceased.

Those who were discovered alive, including four children, were sent to a hospital.The survivors were suffering from heat stroke and heat fatigue and were “hot to the touch.”At least two Mexican nationals are reportedly being treated for dehydration in a hospital, according to Mexican officials. Consular officers are attempting to authenticate their identities.

Authorities are working to confirm the nationalities of remaining victims.

According to US authorities, three people “believed to be part of the smuggling conspiracy” have been taken into custody.

Speaking at his daily briefing, Mr Lopez Obrador, popularly known as Amlo, called the discovery a “tremendous tragedy”, and said Mexico would work to repatriate the remains of its citizens.

This and other migrant deaths were due to the “poverty and desperation of our Central American brothers, and of Mexicans,” he said, adding: “It happens because there is trafficking of people and a lack of control, in this case at the Mexican-US border, but also in the US interior”.

Mexico’s Foreign Minister, Marcelo Ebrard, said that Mexico has joined the probe and is sending a team to Texas to help with the investigation.

The White House called the truck deaths “horrific and heart-breaking”.

The migrants were found on the outskirts of the city of San Antonio, which is 250km (155 miles) from the US-Mexico border, is a major transit route for people smugglers.

Human traffickers often use trucks to transport undocumented migrants after meeting them in remote areas once they have managed to cross into the United States.

“They had families… and were likely trying to find a better life,” San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg said. “It’s nothing short of a horrific, human tragedy.”

Officials said a city worker had discovered the scene after hearing cries for help.