RAYMONDVILLE, Texas (AP) -- Five illegal immigrants sleeping in a sugar cane field near the U.S.-Mexico border were killed Monday when fire swept through the field, authorities said. One person was injured.
The field was set on fire about 10:30 a.m. Monday as part of the harvesting process, Willacy County Sheriff Larry Spence said. The fields are burned every spring to clear away weeds and undergrowth so the cane stalks can be harvested.
Minutes after the field had been lit, a man ran out yelling that he was on fire and that there were five more people in the field, Spence said.
Three bodies were found burned. Autopsies will be ordered, but it appeared the men died of asphyxiation, said Justice of the Peace Sabas Garza.
A man and woman were taken by ambulance to a hospital, where they died. Spence said a sixth man was taken by medical helicopter to a burn center in Dallas.
Spence said it was believed the group was sleeping in the field when the fire was set. He said windy conditions may have caused the fire to burn faster than normal.
Authorities were checking on the identities of the group. The sheriff said one of the men may have been from Guatemala but he was unsure about the others. He said they were undocumented immigrants.
Normally, signs are posted around the perimeter of sugar cane fields warning of an upcoming burn. Spence said about a half hour before the burn, farmers are required to speak through a loudspeaker in English and Spanish, warning of the upcoming burn. The warnings were issued before Monday's burn, he said.
Raymondville is about 40 miles north of Brownsville, which is along the U.S.-Mexico border.
