The incident occurred in Mexico’s Chiapas state, which borders Guatemala, when the truck carrying dozens of migrants crashed. Photos from the scene present the truck on its facet subsequent to a footbridge and our bodies laid out on the street wrapped in physique luggage.
In video footage taken shortly after the accident, individuals could possibly be seen spilled out on to the street, subsequent to a white trailer that had cut up open. The automobile crashed on a decent bend outdoors the town of Tuxtla Gutierrez, the Chiapas state capital.
One man, who was within the truck on the time of the accident however escaped unhurt, advised CNN that he had traveled from Guatemala. All he remembered was the automobile overturning and “a lot of dust,” he mentioned.
Children, ladies and men have been among the many lifeless, the director of the Chiapas Firefighter Institute, Marco Antonio Sánchez, advised CNN. “It was speeding, that’s what one of the people we were carrying said to me, and well, unfortunately, this is the result.”
State Governor Rutilio Escandón tweeted that along with the deaths, 105 individuals have been injured within the crash — amongst them 83 males and 22 girls.
Three individuals are nonetheless in a critical situation, in line with the Attorney General’s workplace.
Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard mentioned a few of the individuals who died included overseas nationals.
“My condolences to the victims and affected families. In communication with the State Government and Civil Protection. We make contact with the foreign ministries of the affected countries,” Ebrard wrote on Twitter.
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador shared his condolences on Twitter.
“I deeply regret the tragedy caused by the overturning of a trailer in Chiapas carrying Central American migrants,” the President mentioned. “It’s very painful. I hug the families of the victims.”
It isn’t instantly clear what brought about the crash or why the victims have been crammed into the truck. However, migration is quite common from Central American international locations like Honduras, Guatemala, and Nicaragua, the place violence, corruption, meals insecurity, and an absence of financial alternative have left many with no different alternative.
The harmful journey, typically organized by individuals smugglers, travels north by Mexico to succeed in the US border.
Under the Trump administration, 1000’s of migrants have been topic to this system, formally generally known as Migrant Protection Protocols, and resided in makeshift camps alongside Mexico’s northern border typically in squalor and harmful situations.
CNN’s Priscilla Alvarez contributed reporting.