Texas authorities are searching for a white tanker truck after receiving disturbing 911 calls from people claiming to be trapped inside the vehicle this week.
Police believe as many as 80 victims are part of a human trafficking operation after receiving several calls in Spanish from someone alleging to be inside the tanker with other immigrants, FOX San Antonio reports.
In one call, the individual tells the 911 operator that the people inside the tanker "don't have oxygen" and can't see anything. The victim also says they believe the tanker is next to the highway and they "hear the cars."
Multiple calls were made to the San Antonio Police Department and the Bexar County Sheriff's Office on Monday (February 8) night, FOX San Antonio reports. A surveillance video showed a white tanker and a black pickup pull up and leave on I-35 near Fischer Road at around midnight, which they do twice.
“It's heartbreaking to hear because clearly behind the caller, in the background, you can hear others in the car, in the trailer and they're also screaming for help in Spanish and saying that they're out of air,” says Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar.
KSAT shared several clips of the disturbing 911 calls which can be viewed below (viewer discretion is advised):
The person making the call told dispatchers about 80 individuals were inside the truck and another person can be overheard screaming "We are not going to make it" in the background, FOX San Antonio reports.
The caller also revealed that some of the individuals inside the tanker were already dead at the time of the 911 call. As of Tuesday (February 9), the only confirmed information available was that the tanker was traveling to San Antonio and the signal from the caller was picked up near the area where the surveillance video was recorded.
"I'd bet a lot of money that if the smugglers do encounter somebody in the back of that trailer that is either very, very ill as a result of the conditions they were exposed or even dead, they're not going to do the right thing. They're going to dump a body or they're going to abandon at a hospital maybe, they're certainly not going to do the right thing," Sheriff Salazar said. "So we're letting our deputies know to be on the lookout for anything."
Photo: Getty Images