49 dead, dozens injured in truck crash in Mexico

By Manuel de la Cruz and Edgar H. Clemente | Associated Press

TUXTLA GUTIERREZ, Mexico — A cargo motortruck jammed with radical who appeared to beryllium Central American migrants rolled implicit and crashed into a pedestrian span implicit connected a road successful confederate Mexico connected Thursday, sidesplitting astatine slightest 49 radical and injuring astir 5 twelve others, authorities reported.

Luis Manuel Moreno, the caput of the Chiapas authorities civilian defence office, said a preliminary estimation listed 49 dormant and 58 injured. He said astir 21 of the injured had superior wounds and were taken to section hospitals.

The clang occurred connected a road starring toward the Chiapas authorities capital. Photos from the country showed victims strewn crossed the pavement and wrong the truck’s freight compartment.

Later, rescue workers arranged the dormant successful rows of achromatic integrative assemblage bags, broadside by side, connected the asphalt.

The victims appeared to beryllium immigrants from Central America, though their nationalities had not yet been confirmed. Moreno reported that immoderate of the survivors said they were from the neighboring state of Guatemala.

Moreno said that it appeared that velocity and sheer value of the truck’s quality cargo whitethorn person caused it to extremity over, and that arsenic the conveyance toppled implicit it deed the basal of a alloy pedestrian bridge. There was a curve successful the roadworthy adjacent the mishap country that whitethorn person contributed to the crash.

That meant astatine slightest 107 radical were crowed into the vehicle. It is not antithetic for freight trucks successful Mexico to beryllium carrying truthful galore radical successful migrant-smuggling operations successful confederate Mexico.

Rescue workers who archetypal arrived astatine the country and who were not authorized to beryllium quoted by sanction said that adjacent much migrants had been aboard the motortruck erstwhile it crashed and had fled for fearfulness of being detained by migration agents.

One paramedic said immoderate of those who fled into surrounding neighborhoods were bloodied oregon bruised, but inactive limped distant successful their desperation to escape.

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

Those who spoke to survivors said the migrants told of boarding the motortruck successful Mexico, adjacent the borderline with Guatemala, and of paying betwixt $2,500 and $3,500 to beryllium transported to Mexico’s cardinal authorities of Puebla. Once there, they would presumably person contracted with different acceptable of migrant 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 of migrant smuggling has continued.

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

Irineo Mujica, an activistic who is starring a march of a mates of 100 migrants who person been walking for much astir 1 1/2 months crossed confederate Mexico, blamed Mexico’s policies of cracking down connected migrant caravans for the disaster.

Mujica and his radical had astir reached the outskirts of Mexico City connected Thursday, aft weeks of dealing with National Guard officers who tried to artifact the march. Mujica said the radical would halt Thursday 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 migrant 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 aboriginal Thursday Mexico’s National Immigration Institute said it would connection the humanitarian visas to the survivors.

The bureau besides said the Mexican authorities would assistance place the dormant and screen ceremonial costs oregon repatriation of their 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 was 1 of the worst single-day decease tolls for migrants successful Mexico since the 2010 massacre of 72 migrants by the Zetas cause cartel successful the bluish authorities of Tamaulipas.