At least 16 migrants, including three children, died Friday in a horrific bus crash in southern Mexico, authorities said.
The passenger bus was transporting about 55 Venezuelan and Peruvian asylum seekers in the state of Oaxaca when it overturned, Mexico’s State Protection Coordination reported. said in X, formerly known as Twitter.
At least three of the murdered migrants are children, in addition to two women and 11 men, according to the National Migration Institute.
Twenty-nine other people were injured, although there was no immediate information on their condition.
The carnage was so severe that the NMI originally reported that 18 died, but later reduced the figure, claiming there had been an overcount because some of the bodies were dismembered.
It is not yet clear what caused the accident or whether other vehicles were involved.
Photographs of the accident show the passenger bus lying on its side on a winding stretch of road with its top blown off.
The left side windows of the bus were shattered, leaving what appeared to be luggage and parts of the vehicle scattered across the street.
The bus was carrying 55 migrants when it overturned and crashed in southern Mexico.AP
Salomón Jara Cruz, governor of Oaxaca, said state officials were joining many other national, state and municipal agencies to provide aid to those involved in the accident.
“We deeply regret the fatal accident that occurred on the Oaxaca-Cuacnopalan highway, in which several migrants died,” said in X. “Our deepest condolences to the families of the deceased and all our solidarity and support to the injured.”
Surviving migrants will receive a Humanitarian Visitor Card that will allow them to continue receiving medical care while in the foreign country, the NMI said.
At least 16 people were killed, including three children.REUTERS Most of the victims were from Venezuela and Peru, authorities said.REUTERS Another twenty-nine people were injured, although there was no immediate information on their condition.REUTERS
The tragic accident is the latest in a series of migrant deaths in Mexico amid a surge of migrants traveling to the US border.
Last week, 10 Cuban migrants died, including a minor, and 17 others were seriously injured after a cargo truck they were traveling in crashed on a highway in the neighboring state of Chiapas, near the border with Guatemala.
The Institute said the driver of the vehicle was apparently speeding and lost control of the truck, which was carrying 27 migrants at the time. The driver fled the scene.
The cause of the accident is still under investigation.REUTERS
Also in the same Mexican state last week, a truck overturned on a highway in Chiapas, killing two Central American immigrants and injuring 27 others.
An overwhelming number of migrants have been making the dangerous journey across the Mexican border to find asylum in the United States.
In September alone, more than 260,000 immigrants crossed into the United States, setting a new monthly record that rivals the population of citizens living in St. Petersburg, Florida.
With publication wires
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Source: vtt.edu.vn