The suspected driver of a truck discovered overlooked in Texas with dozens of bodies in there has been charged with death by migrant smuggling.
Homero Zamorano was apprehended by police in San Antonio while portrayed as a migrant in a bush near the lorry.
The tragedy claimed the lives of 53 people, many of whom died from heatstroke and dehydration after being trapped inside the truck in sweltering heat with no access to water.
It is the deadliest case of human trafficking in US history.
According to a top Mexican immigration official, Mr Zamorano, who is from Texas, “tried passing himself off as one of the survivors” as he was discovered by police.
Christian Martinez, a second suspect, was detained on conspiracy charges. According to federal prosecutors, investigators tracked him down after searching Mr Zamorano’s phone and uncovering the pair had already been interacting.
If convicted, the two men encounter the greatest sentence of life in prison or the death penalty, according to the US Justice Department.
Two more suspects were arrested on firearms charges after being related to the location where the truck has been registered.
On Monday evening, emergency crews arrived on an isolated road near San Antonio to discover 46 dead bodies within it and across the abandoned car, which had its doors flung open.
When the responders arrived, none of the people inside the truck, which was only discovered after a near area worker heard cries for help, were conscious. Only about a dozen of those encountered inside the vehicle emerged to be breathing, according to formal radio dispatches from the scene.
After a majority of those hospitalised died, the death toll rose to 53.
On Wednesday, local Texas residents gathered to mourn at the site of the tragedy, about 250 kilometres (160 miles) north of the US-Mexico border.
Roberto Alvarez, another local who arrived in the US as an undocumented worker, happened to come with roses and candles to honour the victims.
“You put yourself in their shoes,” he said, “because you lived through it as well.”
Bottles of water were also left at the scene, even though police had previously stated that the truck had no water or air conditioning.
Mexico was represented by 27 people, accounting for over half of those defined as dead. According to Mexico’s government, 14 people died in Honduras, seven in Guatemala, and two in El Salvador.
Officials from Guatemala announced on Wednesday that two Guatemalan boys, ages 13 and 14, were among those killed in the accident.
Pascual Melvin Guachiac and Juan Wilmer Tulul were close relatives who left home two weeks ago to escape poverty, according to Pascual’s mother, who was quoted in Guatemalan media.
The teenage relatives had informed their family that they had been heading to San Antonio just hours even before the lorry was discovered abandoned.
According to Mexican immigration officials, the migrants crossed the border in smaller groups before congregating in a secret safe-house inside the United States, where they’d be packed further into a lorry for the next stage of their journey.
The officials added that those inside the lorry were sprinkled with a pungent substance as part of a procedure used among smuggling to mask the scent of humans and avoid detection by canine patrols.
