Smuggling ring suspicions as 19 immigrants die in trailer

US investigators believe a smuggling operation in which 19 illegal immigrants died after being packed into a sweltering trailer with dozens of others is part of a larger organisation.

Only one person has been arrested in connection with the incident, a truck driver from New York. Authorities believe the "transportation cell" at the heart of the case is part of a conspiracy to bring illegal immigrants across the border with promises of jobs, said US Attorney Michael Shelby of Houston.

Officials said 70 to 100 people had been packed into the trailer, which was found abandoned Wednesday at a truck stop south of Victoria, more than 100 miles southwest of Houston. Police found 17 bodies inside and two more died later. Initial autopsy reports showed the victims died from dehydration, hyperthermia and suffocation.

A newspaper reported officials are investigating whether a police dispatcher mishandled a call from a motorist who reported seeing a hand waving a bandanna from a hole near the trailer's taillights.

Kingsville Police Chief Sam Granato told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram the dispatcher, who was not identified, failed to alert police to the call, made around midnight Tuesday. She has been suspended.

Five people removed from the truck remained hospitalised Saturday, while more than 40 other survivors from Mexico, Honduras and El Salvador were being held by the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Authorities said an additional 30 to 50 illegal immigrants were believed to have fled the trailer.

Truck driver Tyrone Williams, 32, appeared before a US magistrate in Houston on Friday charged with conspiracy to smuggle, transport and conceal illegal immigrants. Williams could face up to life in prison if convicted.