55 dead after truck smuggling migrants crashes in Mexico

TUXTLA GUTIERREZ, Mexico — Rescue workers arriving astatine a roadworthy mishap successful confederate Mexico recovered a horrific scene: A tractor trailer jammed with arsenic galore arsenic 200 migrants crashed into the basal of a alloy pedestrian bridge, sidesplitting 55 and injuring dozens.

The migrants wrong the tipped-over trailer were tossed and crushed successful a heap of some the surviving and the dead.

In summation to the 55 killed Thursday evening, astatine slightest 52 were injured. It was 1 of the deadliest days for migrants successful Mexico since the 2010 massacre of 72 radical by the Zetas cause cartel successful the bluish authorities of Tamaulipas.

Volunteer rescuers removed the dormant from the pile, portion the surviving scrambled to get retired of the twisted debris of the collapsed trailer.

One young man, pinned beneath unmoving bodies, wriggled to escaped the little fractional of his frame, his look wrenched into a grimace arsenic helium extracted himself. Nearby, a antheral blinked, incapable to determination arsenic helium laic connected the broadside of the road. Next to him was an older, stouter migrant whose lifeless eyes stared into the mounting sun.

While the Mexican authorities is trying to appease the United States by stopping caravans of walking migrants and allowing the reinstatement of the “Remain successful Mexico” policy, it has been incapable to staunch the flood of migrants stuffed by the hundreds into trucks operated by smugglers who complaint thousands of dollars to instrumentality them to the U.S. borderline — trips that each excessively often pb them lone to their deaths.

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said specified cases are painful.

“We person been insisting that the causes that originate these unfortunate events indispensable beryllium addressed,” helium said astatine his greeting quality conference.

López Obrador said helium has been insisting with U.S. President Joe Biden that the migration concern is urgent, but that the U.S. authorities is moving slowly.

The astir severely injured from the mishap were carried to integrative sheets connected the road. Those who could locomotion were led, stunned, to the aforesaid sheets. Ambulances, cars and pickup trucks were pressed into ferrying the injured to hospitals.

Later, the dormant were covered successful achromatic sheets, broadside by side, connected the highway.

Rescue workers who archetypal arrived said different migrants who had been connected the motortruck erstwhile it crashed had fled for fearfulness of being detained by migration agents. One paramedic said immoderate of those who hurried into surrounding neighborhoods were bloodied oregon bruised but inactive limped distant successful their desperation to escape.

About 200 migrants whitethorn person been packed into the truck, said Guatemala’s apical quality rights official, Jordán Rodas. That fig is not antithetic for migrant smuggling operations successful Mexico, and the value of the load — combined with velocity and a adjacent curve — whitethorn person been capable to propulsion the motortruck disconnected balance, authorities said.

Luis Manuel Moreno, caput of the Chiapas authorities civilian defence office, said astir 21 were earnestly injured and were taken to hospitals. The national Attorney General’s Office said 3 were critically injured successful the crash, which happened connected a road starring from the Guatemalan borderline toward the Chiapas authorities capital.

Sitting beside the overturned trailer, Celso Pacheco of Guatemala said the motortruck felt similar it was speeding and past seemed retired of control.

Most aboard were from Guatemala and Honduras, helium said, estimating 8 to 10 young children among them. He said helium was trying to scope the United States, but present expected to beryllium deported to Guatemala. Authorities said determination besides were migrants from Ecuador, the Dominican Republic and Mexico aboard.

Marco Antonio Sánchez, manager of the Chiapas Firefighter Institute, said ambulances brought victims to 3 hospitals, 3 oregon 4 astatine a time. When determination weren’t capable ambulances, they loaded them into pickup trucks, helium said.

Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei tweeted: “I profoundly regret the calamity successful Chiapas state, and I explicit my solidarity for the victims’ families, to whom we volition connection each the indispensable consular assistance, including repatriation.”

Pope Francis, who visited Chiapas successful 2015 and has made the plight of migrants a hallmark of his papacy, sent a telegram of condolences Friday to the archbishop of Tuxtla Gutierrez, offering prayers for the dormant and their families, and for the injured.

The motortruck had primitively been a closed freight module of the benignant utilized to transportation perishable goods. The instrumentality was smashed unfastened by the impact. It was unclear if the operator survived.

Those who spoke to survivors said they told of boarding the motortruck successful Mexico, adjacent the borderline with Guatemala, and of paying betwixt $2,500 and $3,500 to beryllium taken to Mexico’s cardinal authorities of Puebla. Once there, they would presumably person contracted with different acceptable of smugglers to instrumentality them to the U.S. border.

In caller months, Mexican authorities person tried to artifact migrants from walking successful ample groups toward the U.S. border, but the clandestine and illicit travel has continued.

In October, successful 1 of the largest busts successful caller memory, authorities successful the bluish borderline authorities of Tamaulipas recovered 652 chiefly Central American migrants jammed into a convoy of six cargo trucks heading toward the U.S. border.

Irineo Mujica, an activistic who is starring astir 400 migrants connected a astir 1 1/2-month march crossed confederate Mexico, blamed Thursday’s calamity connected Mexico cracking down connected migrant caravans.

Mujica and his radical had astir reached the outskirts of Mexico City, aft weeks of dealing with National Guard officers who tried to artifact the march. Mujica said the radical would halt and connection prayers for the dormant migrants.

“These policies that termination us, that execution us, is what leads to this benignant of tragedy,” Mujica said.

In fact, they are 2 precise antithetic groups. Caravans mostly pull migrants who don’t person the thousands of dollars needed to wage smugglers.

Migrants progressive successful superior accidents are often allowed to enactment successful Mexico astatine slightest temporarily due to the fact that they are considered witnesses to and victims of a crime, and Mexico’s National Immigration Institute said it would connection humanitarian visas to the survivors.

The bureau besides said the Mexican authorities would assistance place the dormant and screen ceremonial costs oregon repatriation of the remains.

Mass deaths of migrants are thing that President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has been hopeless to avoid, adjacent arsenic his medication has accepted requests from the U.S. authorities to stem the travel of migrants moving north.

“It is precise painful,” helium tweeted astir the crash.