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Ninth person dead after police uncover dozens of people in sweltering truck parked outside Walmart

A ninth person has died after police uncovered eight dead bodies inside a swelatering truck parked outside a Texas Walmart in summer heat.

After one man inside the truck asked a Walmart employee for water, police quickly uncovered the "horrific" human trafficking crime.

Twenty of those taken to area hospitals after the discovery in San Antonio, about a two hour drive from the Mexican border, were in serious to "extremely critical" condition, suffering from heat stroke and dehydration.

A ninth person was later confirmed dead.

"We got a call from a Walmart employee about a welfare check in a tractor-trailer that was parked on the lot here," City police chief William McManus said.

Nine people were found dead inside the 18-wheeler, parked outside a Texas Walmart. Source: AP

"He was approached by someone from that truck, who was asking for water.

"We're looking at a human trafficking crime this evening."

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At least 38 people were in the trailer including two school-age children but it remains unclear how many might have escaped the overheated vehicle.

Police said the horrific discovery was not an isolated incident. Source: AP

While the driver of the car has since been arrested, Chief McManus said the late-night human trafficking run was "not an isolated incident".

"This happens all the time," McManus added.

"It happens late at night, under darkness because they don't want to be discovered."

Police made the gruesome discovery as part of a routine welfare check. Source: AP

Authorities used helicopters to rush some of the injured to seven area hospitals, said a visibly distraught San Antonio fire chief Charles Hood, adding some were in "extremely critical condition or very serious condition".

The police chief said store security footage showed that some vehicles came to pick up some travellers who were on the truck and who had made it out alive.

It was not immediately clear how long the truck had been in the parking lot, and police were working to determine who owns it.

"By any standard, the horrific crime uncovered last night ranks as a stark reminder of why human smuggling networks must be pursued, caught and punished," acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement director Thomas Homan said in a statement.

It's believed further would-be migrants escaped the sweltering truck prior to its arrival at the Texas Walmart. Source: AP

"These networks have repeatedly shown a reckless disregard for those they smuggle, as last night's case demonstrates."

President Donald Trump has pledged to build a security wall along America's border with Mexico in order to crack down on illegal immigration.

So far, the project has been stalled by reluctance in Congress to dedicate funding for the barrier, which could cost as much as US $20 billion according to some estimates.