16 migrants were killed in a horrific bus accident in southern Mexico

News

by Catherine Dunleavy

At least 16 migrants, including three children, were killed in a horrific bus accident in southern Mexico on Friday, officials said.

The passenger bus was carrying about 55 Venezuelan and Peruvian asylum seekers in the state of Oaxaca when it overturned, according to Mexico’s State Protection Coordination. He said on X Formerly known as Twitter.

Among the migrants killed were at least three children, in addition to two women and 11 men, according to the organization National Immigration Institute

Twenty-nine others were injured, and no immediate information was available about their condition.

The massacre was so severe that the NMI initially reported 18 people killed, but later lowered the number – claiming there had been an increase in the number due to the dismemberment of some bodies.

It is not yet clear what caused the accident and whether other vehicles were involved.

Pictures of the accident show the passenger bus lying on its side on a winding section of the highway, its upper part crushed.

The windows on the left side of the bus were shattered, leaving what appeared to be luggage and parts of the vehicle scattered across the street.

Salomon Jara Cruz, Governor of Oaxaca State, said state officials join several other national, state and municipal agencies in providing assistance to those involved in the incident.

“We deeply regret the fatal accident that occurred on the Oaxaca-Cuacanobalan Highway, in which several migrants died.” He said on X. Our condolences to the families of the deceased and all our solidarity and support to the wounded.”

The surviving migrants are given a visit card on humanitarian grounds to allow them to continue receiving medical care while in the foreign country, the NMI said.

This tragic incident is the latest in a series of migrant deaths in Mexico amid the increasing numbers of migrants traveling towards the US border.

Last week, 10 Cuban migrants — including a minor — died and 17 others were seriously injured after the cargo truck they were traveling in crashed on a highway in the neighboring state of Chiapas, near the border with Guatemala.

The institute said that the driver of the car was apparently speeding and lost control of the truck, which was carrying 27 migrants at the time. The driver fled the scene.

Also in the same Mexican state, last week, a truck overturned on a highway in Chiapas, killing two Central American migrants and injuring 27 others.

A huge number of migrants are making the dangerous journey across the Mexican border in order to obtain asylum in the United States.

In September alone, more than 260,000 immigrants crossed into the United States – setting a new monthly record that rivals the number of citizens living in St. Petersburg, Florida.

With mail Wires