The crash happened Thursday on Interstate 35 about 40 miles north of Laredo, according to a tweet Thursday from Lt. Chris Olivares, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS).
Wars are investigating the fatal crash in which the driver, suspected of human trafficking, fled law enforcement and crashed into a commercial vehicle, according to a tweet from the South Texas region of DPS.
The driver was flown to a hospital, according to Olivarez.
I-35 is a major north-south route in the central United States for traffic and trade from the southern border. The route is often used by smugglers at a time when a record number of migrants have been caught on the US-Mexico border.
On Monday in San Antonio, about 120 miles north of I-35 from Encinal, 53 migrants died in what a Homeland Security official called the deadliest human smuggling incident in U.S. history.
A worker near the Interstate called the San Antonio police after finding a tractor trailer abandoned in the hot sun in the back, with dozens of dead migrants inside. Some victims may be under 18 years old.
“The floor of the trailer … was completely covered with bodies. Completely covered with bodies,” police chief William McManus told CNN. “There were at least 10+ bodies outside the trailer.
Authorities in Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras have said they are cooperating with the United States in trying to identify the people who died in San Antonio.
More than a dozen people were found alive in the tractor’s trailer and hospitalized for heat-related conditions, authorities said.
Four people have been arrested in connection with the human smuggling incident.
Homero Samorano Jr., 45, who is from Brownsville but lives in Pasadena, Texas, was arrested on Wednesday on criminal charges related to alleged involvement in human trafficking, which led to his death, according to a statement from the US Department of Justice.
Zamorano has a long criminal record dating back to the 1990s, public records show.
Surveillance records from the Laredo Sector Border Patrol show that the tug passed through an immigration checkpoint, according to the Ministry of Justice. The driver was seen wearing a black striped shirt and hat.
Zamorano coincides with the driver in the surveillance footage, the justice ministry said.
CNN was unable to determine if he had a lawyer.
Another suspect, 28-year-old Christian Martinez, was arrested Tuesday in Palestine, Texas, and charged with a conspiracy to transport undocumented migrants that led to his death, the Justice Department said.
Two other men, Juan Claudio D’Luna-Mendes and Juan Francisco D’Luna-Bilbao, have been charged with “illegal possession of a weapon by a foreigner in the United States”, according to criminal charges filed Monday.
Authorities found the men after reacting to the incident with a semi-truck, according to the affidavits.
D’Luna-Mendes’ lawyer declined to comment. CNN turned to D’Luna-Bilbao’s lawyer for comment.
CNN’s Rosa Flores contributed to this report.
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