Law enforcement began the chase of the tractor trailer, which was suspected of carrying undocumented migrants, sometime before 10 p.m. on Thursday, June 4. The pursuit occurred on the southbound lanes of U.S. 281 south of Falfurrias and ended when the trailer erupted into flames. Hidalgo County Sheriff J.E. “Eddie” Treviño announced the incident on X late Thursday night.
“SB lane of US 281 6 miles North of Linn is closed due to a Tractor-trailer on fire. Tractor trailer was involved in human smuggling and was being pursued by law enforcement,” Treviño said in the X post at 9:44 p.m.
Linn is a rural farm community in the Rio Grande Valley located about 22 miles north of Edinburg and about 48 miles south of Falfurrias. The conflagration led to the closure of both southbound lanes of U.S. 281, which serves as one of the primary arteries connecting the Valley to the rest of Texas. As of 9 a.m. on Friday, one lane remained closed, according to Ray Pedraza, a spokesperson for the Pharr District of TxDOT.
However, Pedraza referred questions regarding the condition of the truck driver and any migrants who may have been aboard the trailer to the Texas Department of Public Safety. MySA reached out to DPS, who further referred questions to the U.S. Border Patrol, which did not return messages seeking comment.