© 2024 Texas Public Radio
Real. Reliable. Texas Public Radio.
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Mourners honor the 53 lives lost with flags, candles, flowers — and water

A memorial to the 53 people who died from being trapped in a tractor trailer in south San Antonio is growing.

Mourners have placed crosses, candles, water bottles, and the national flags of the victims in an area on the side of Quintana Road.

Amidst the dry grasses and scrub brush are large wooden crosses. Nearby, two women pray in front of the Honduran and Guatemalan flags.

Lydia Hernandez Trickey, a Presbyterian clergy woman, visited the site on Thursday. She called the deaths of the 53 people a horrific inhumanity.

Wooden crosses represent the 53 lives lost in human smuggling case.
Jia Chen
/
for Texas Public Radio
Wooden crosses represent the 53 lives lost in human smuggling case.

“We have made it impossible for anybody to be in our country who is willing to work and make a better life for themselves — in this immigrant built country.”

As part of the memorial, a Dallas based artist is painting a large mural that shows the distress and hardships migrants face as they journey into the United States. He said he plans to leave the painting there for as long as it will stand.

TPR was founded by and is supported by our community. If you value our commitment to the highest standards of responsible journalism and are able to do so, please consider making your gift of support today.

Joey Palacios can be reached atJoey@TPR.org and on Twitter at @Joeycules