A dozen other people overcome by the heat inside the trailer were taken to hospitals for treatment, the officers said.
About 50 to 60 people were in the trailer and many of them scattered when officers arrived on the scene about 2 a.m. at a truck stop.
Six survivors were taken to DeTar Hospital, said spokesman Jerrel Robinowich. He said two were unresponsive and in the critical care unit. Two others were being examined by doctors and two more would be treated and released. They were all men 20 to 47 years of age, he said.
Officials could not initially confirm if the those inside the trailer were illegal immigrants, but the circumstances were similar to other incidents in the past in Texas and other states where illegals have been overcome by heat in truck trailers or railroad box cars.
Robinowich said the hospital is prepared to receive more patients if the survivors are overcome by the heat trying to escape from officers.
"They may just start dropping," he said.
Sheriff's officers found the trailer at a truck stop on the southside of the city, which is about 120 miles southwest of San Antonio in South Texas.
The sheriff was expected to release more details later.
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