TUXTLA GUTIERREZ, Mexico (AP) — Rescue employees arriving at a street accident in southern Mexico discovered a horrific scene: A tractor trailer jammed with as many as 200 migrants crashed into the bottom of a metal pedestrian bridge, killing 55 and injuring dozens.
The migrants contained in the tipped-over trailer had been tossed and crushed in a pile of each the dwelling and the lifeless.
Along with the 55 killed Thursday night, a minimum of 52 had been injured. It was one of many deadliest days for migrants in Mexico because the 2010 bloodbath of 72 individuals by the Zetas drug cartel within the northern state of Tamaulipas.
Volunteer rescuers eliminated the lifeless from the pile, whereas the dwelling scrambled to get out of the twisted particles of the collapsed trailer.
One younger man, pinned beneath unmoving our bodies, wriggled to free the decrease half of his body, his face wrenched right into a grimace as he extracted himself. Close by, a person blinked, unable to maneuver as he lay on the aspect of the street. Subsequent to him was an older, stouter migrant whose lifeless eyes stared into the setting solar.
Whereas the Mexican authorities is attempting to appease the US by stopping caravans of strolling migrants and permitting the reinstatement of the “Stay in Mexico” coverage, it has been unable to staunch the flood of migrants stuffed by the a whole lot into vehicles operated by smugglers who cost hundreds of {dollars} to take them to the U.S. border — journeys that every one too usually lead them solely to their deaths.
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador mentioned such circumstances are painful.
“We’ve been insisting that the causes that originate these unlucky occasions should be addressed,” he mentioned at his morning information convention.
López Obrador mentioned he has been insisting with U.S. President Joe Biden that the immigration scenario is pressing, however that the U.S. authorities is shifting slowly.
Essentially the most severely injured from the accident had been carried to plastic sheets on the street. Those that might stroll had been led, shocked, to the identical sheets. Ambulances, vehicles and pickup vehicles had been pressed into ferrying the injured to hospitals.
Later, the lifeless had been coated in white sheets, aspect by aspect, on the freeway.
Rescue employees who first arrived mentioned different migrants who had been on the truck when it crashed had fled for worry of being detained by immigration brokers. One paramedic mentioned a few of those that hurried into surrounding neighborhoods had been bloodied or bruised however nonetheless limped away of their desperation to flee.
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About 200 migrants might have been packed into the truck, mentioned Guatemala’s high human rights official, Jordán Rodas. That quantity just isn’t uncommon for migrant smuggling operations in Mexico, and the burden of the load — mixed with pace and a close-by curve — might have been sufficient to throw the truck off stability, authorities mentioned.
Luis Manuel Moreno, head of the Chiapas state civil protection workplace, mentioned about 21 had been critically injured and had been taken to hospitals. The federal Lawyer Normal’s Workplace mentioned three had been critically injured within the crash, which occurred on a freeway main from the Guatemalan border towards the Chiapas state capital.
Sitting beside the overturned trailer, Celso Pacheco of Guatemala mentioned the truck felt prefer it was rushing after which appeared uncontrolled.
Most aboard had been from Guatemala and Honduras, he mentioned, estimating eight to 10 younger youngsters amongst them. He mentioned he was attempting to succeed in the US, however now anticipated to be deported to Guatemala. Authorities mentioned there additionally had been migrants from Ecuador, the Dominican Republic and Mexico aboard.
Marco Antonio Sánchez, director of the Chiapas Firefighter Institute, mentioned ambulances introduced victims to a few hospitals, three or 4 at a time. When there weren’t sufficient ambulances, they loaded them into pickup vehicles, he mentioned.
Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei tweeted: “I deeply remorse the tragedy in Chiapas state, and I specific my solidarity for the victims’ households, to whom we are going to provide all the mandatory consular help, together with repatriation.”
Pope Francis, who visited Chiapas in 2015 and has made the plight of migrants an indicator of his papacy, despatched a telegram of condolences Friday to the archbishop of Tuxtla Gutierrez, providing prayers for the lifeless and their households, and for the injured.
The truck had initially been a closed freight module of the sort used to hold perishable items. The container was smashed open by the affect. It was unclear if the motive force survived.
Those that spoke to survivors mentioned they advised of boarding the truck in Mexico, close to the border with Guatemala, and of paying between $2,500 and $3,500 to be taken to Mexico’s central state of Puebla. As soon as there, they might presumably have contracted with one other set of smugglers to take them to the U.S. border.
In current months, Mexican authorities have tried to dam migrants from strolling in giant teams towards the U.S. border, however the clandestine and illicit move has continued.
In October, in one of many largest busts in current reminiscence, authorities within the northern border state of Tamaulipas discovered 652 primarily Central American migrants jammed right into a convoy of six cargo vehicles heading towards the U.S. border.
Irineo Mujica, an activist who’s main about 400 migrants on a virtually 1 1/2-month march throughout southern Mexico, blamed Thursday’s tragedy on Mexico cracking down on migrant caravans.
Mujica and his group had nearly reached the outskirts of Mexico Metropolis, after weeks of coping with Nationwide Guard officers who tried to dam the march. Mujica mentioned the group would cease and provide prayers for the lifeless migrants.
“These insurance policies that kill us, that homicide us, is what results in any such tragedy,” Mujica mentioned.
In reality, they’re two very totally different teams. Caravans usually entice migrants who don’t have the hundreds of {dollars} wanted to pay smugglers.
Migrants concerned in severe accidents are sometimes allowed to remain in Mexico a minimum of briefly as a result of they’re thought-about witnesses to and victims of against the law, and Mexico’s Nationwide Immigration Institute mentioned it might provide humanitarian visas to the survivors.
The company additionally mentioned the Mexican authorities would assist establish the lifeless and canopy funeral prices or repatriation of the stays.
Mass deaths of migrants are one thing that President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has been determined to keep away from, at the same time as his administration has accepted requests from the U.S. authorities to stem the move of migrants shifting north.
“It is extremely painful,” he tweeted concerning the crash.