RismadarVoice Reporters, May 11, 2026
Authorities in Laredo are investigating the deaths of six people whose bodies were discovered inside a cargo train boxcar near a rail yard on Sunday afternoon.
According to police, officers responded after an employee of Union Pacific reported multiple casualties inside a trailer boxcar around 3 p.m. local time.
Investigators said the identities and ages of the victims had not yet been released, while the origin of the train also remained unclear as of Sunday evening.
Jose Baeza of the Laredo Police Department described the case as an active and evolving investigation.
“The origin of the train and the identities of the victims are at the crux of the ongoing fluid investigation,” Baeza said.
Authorities said the Webb County Medical Examiner’s Office would conduct autopsies to determine the exact causes and manner of death.
Baeza noted that the rail yard where the bodies were found stretches for miles and serves as a major loading and unloading point for freight trains.
A spokesperson for Union Pacific said the company was “saddened by this incident” and was cooperating fully with law enforcement authorities.
Laredo, located along the U.S.-Mexico border, is home to one of Texas’s busiest commercial ports of entry. Trade data from the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts showed that Port Laredo handled about 62 per cent of the state’s land-port trade in 2024, valued at nearly $340 billion.
The incident occurred amid intense heat conditions in the region, with temperatures in Laredo reaching about 97 degrees Fahrenheit on Sunday, according to weather officials.
Police said further details would be released as investigations continue.
