At least 53 migrants died and 59 were injured in an accident with a truck of goods in southern Mexico this Thursday (9).
"So far 53 people have died and three have been seriously injured," the Attorney General's Office of the Republic of Mexico said in a statement quoted by Agence France-Presse, without giving the nationality of the victims.
According to the Civil Protection of the state of Chiapas, where the accident occurred, the victims are from neighboring Guatemala.
The accident happened near Tuxtla Gutierrez, capital of the southern state of Chiapas, which borders Guatemala.
The migrants traveled huddled in the trailer of a truck, according to initial information provided by the Civil Protection. The vehicle, which would have been traveling at excessive speed, overturned on a curve and crashed into a wall, witnesses reported to the Civil Protection.
The truck was carrying "more than 100 people of various nationalities," the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) in Mexico City said in a statement.
"According to survivors' testimonies, the majority are from Guatemala," said Regional Director of Civil Protection Luis Manuel Garcia.
Firefighters and ambulances were dispatched en masse to the crash site. The wounded were transported to private and public hospitals in the region.
The state of Chiapas is a gateway for migrants from Central America, mainly from Honduras and El Salvador, hoping to reach the United States.
Transport by truck is one of the usual methods used by migrants. Accidents with heavy goods vehicles transporting people are common in southern Mexico, where migrant smuggling operations take place.
Text translated using artificial intelligence.
