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Rail workers in Laredo, Texas, made a horrifying discovery Sunday afternoon when they found six people dead inside a stopped boxcar at a Union Pacific rail yard just miles from the Mexican border.

The grim scene was uncovered around 2:30 p.m. local time by a Union Pacific employee conducting a routine inspection before the train continued its journey north. Temperatures that day climbed above 90°F (32°C), raising immediate concerns about the conditions inside the sealed rail car.

Laredo police confirmed no one was found alive. The identities, ages, and immigration status of the deceased have not yet been released as the investigation remains in its early stages.

“It’s a very unfortunate event. It was too many lives that were lost,” said Jose Espinoza, public information officer for the Laredo Police Department.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is aware of the incident but has referred the case to local police and Texas Rangers. Authorities are working to determine the exact cause of death.

This tragedy has disturbing echoes of previous incidents in the same area. In 2024, 20 migrants were rescued from a similar train compartment in Laredo in a severely dehydrated state. And in 2022, 53 migrants — including six children — were found dead inside a locked tractor-trailer just a short distance away, in one of the deadliest smuggling incidents in recent U.S. history.

The discovery of six bodies in a rail car near one of America’s busiest international trade corridors highlights the continued and deadly risks migrants face while attempting to cross into the United States. Even as the Trump administration has intensified border enforcement, desperate individuals continue turning to increasingly dangerous methods — including hiding in freight trains — to evade detection.

Laredo serves as a major gateway for freight trains entering from Mexico, with dozens of trains and thousands of containers crossing daily. While most cargo reaches its destination safely, the rail yards have become another deadly route for human smugglers.

Union Pacific said it is fully cooperating with law enforcement and expressed sadness over the loss of life.

As investigators work to uncover exactly what happened inside that boxcar — whether from extreme heat, lack of oxygen, or other factors — this tragedy serves as yet another grim reminder of the human cost of illegal immigration and the ruthless nature of smuggling networks operating along the southern border.