Road accident in Mexico leaves 25 migrants dead
A truck packed with Central American migrants swerved off a highway in
southern Mexico Thursday, leaving at least 25 dead and 32 injured, officials
said.
The accident happened in Chiapas state, bordering Guatemala, the state attorney general's office said in a statement.
The three-ton truck ran off the road and overturned, it added.
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Every year, thousands of poor Central Americans, mainly from Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala, attempt dangerous trips through Mexico trying to reach the United States.
Many travel in group caravans for safety, while others hire human traffickers who put them in overcrowded trucks with appalling sanitary conditions.
The truck involved in this accident was carrying an estimated 80 people, said Isidro Hernandez of the local Red Cross. Some who were not injured may have fled.
The fatalities include at least one minor, Hernandez added.
Police and soldiers are working at the scene and there could be more victims, he said.
In October, a caravan with as many as 7,000 people traveled through Mexico all the way to Tijuana on the border with California before eventually disbanding.