In South Mexico, a truck accident kills 49 migrants and injures 58

Tuxtla Gutierrez, Tuxtla Gutierrez (Mexico): On Thursday, a cargo truck packed with people who appeared to be Central American migrants rolled over and crashed into a pedestrian bridge over on a highway in southern Mexico, killing at least 49 people and injuring nearly a dozen more, according to authorities.

According to Luis Manuel Moreno, the head of the Chiapas state civil defense office, a preliminary count of 49 dead and 58 injured. He stated that about 40 of the injured had serious injuries and were taken to local hospitals.

The accident happened on a highway leading to the state capital of Chiapas. Victims were strewn across the pavement and inside the truck’s freight compartment, according to photos from the scene.

The victims appeared to be Central American immigrants, though their nationalities had not yet been confirmed. According to Moreno, some of the survivors claimed to be from the neighboring country of Guatemala.

Moreno stated that the sheer weight of the truck’s human cargo appeared to have caused it to tip over, and that as it did so, it collided with the base of a steel pedestrian bridge.

That meant there were at least 107 people crammed into the vehicle. Freight trucks in Mexico carrying so many people in migrant-smuggling operations in southern Mexico are not uncommon.

Rescue workers who arrived first on the scene and were not authorized to be identified said that even more migrants were aboard the truck when it crashed and fled for fear of being detained by immigration agents.

According to one paramedic, some of those who fled into nearby neighborhoods were bloodied or bruised but limped away in their desperation to escape.

Originally, the truck was a closed freight module used to transport perishable goods. The force of the impact smashed open the container. It was unknown whether the driver survived.

According to survivors, the migrants boarded the truck in Mexico near the Guatemalan border and paid between USD 2,500 and USD 3,500 to be transported to Mexico’s central state of Puebla. Once there, they would have presumably contracted with another group of migrant smugglers to transport them to the United States border.

Mexican authorities have attempted to prevent migrants from walking in large groups toward the US border in recent months, but the clandestine and illegal flow of migrant smuggling has continued.

Authorities in the northern border state of Tamaulipas discovered 652 mostly Central American migrants jammed into a convoy of six freight trucks heading toward the US border in October, in one of the largest busts in recent memory.

Irineo Mujica, an activist who is leading a march of several hundred migrants who have been walking for nearly a month and a half across southern Mexico, blamed the disaster on Mexico’s policies of cracking down on migrant caravans.

Mujica and his supporters were on the outskirts of Mexico City on Thursday, after weeks of battling National Guard officers who attempted to obstruct the march. Mujica stated that the group would come to a halt on Thursday to pray for the deceased migrants.