DES MOINES, Iowa, Oct. 15 -- Investigators Tuesday began removing the bodies of 11 suspected illegal aliens from a grain hopper that had been left on a rail siding for four months.
The bodies were discovered as workers for Archer Daniels Midland prepared to clean the Union Pacific rail car.
It had been in Matamoros, Mexico, in June since then, parked on a rail siding in Oklahoma until it was emptied at a grain elevator just west of Denison, Iowa, Monday.
The rail car was moved from Denison, about 60 miles north of Omaha, Neb., to Des Moines late Monday and police Sgt. Robert Hanson said it would be some time before the victims were identified. Firefighters cut a hole in the side of the rail car so the bodies could be removed intact.
The coroner's office said it would work with the Immigration and Naturalization Service to identify the remains.
"The loss of life is a real tragedy," said Jose Cuevas, the Mexican consul in Omaha.
Jerry Heinauer, district director of the Immigration and Naturalization Service for Nebraska and Iowa, said all of the victims were from Mexico.
"Unfortunately it does happen occasionally that smugglers lead migrants into the United States and then they lock them in cars," Heinauer said.
ADM employees put the number of bodies at 11 although authorities would not confirm that.
"As the workers were opening the cars up, they discovered several badly decomposed bodies," ADM spokeswoman Karla Miller said. "As soon as the bodies were found, we called authorities."
Investigators said they suspect the victims are illegal immigrants who found themselves trapped in the hopper with no way to open it from the inside. No foul play was suspected.NEWLN:|end| Content: 03010000 11017000
