At least 37 migrants died in a fire at a branch of Mexico’s National Institute of Migration (INM) in Ciudad Juárez, on the border between Mexico and the United States, several sources told the EFE agency today.
In the area of the fire, near the Rio Grande, in the area that divides Mexico and the United States, the EFE agency was able to review dozens of bags with the bodies of the deceased migrants.
The Mexican authorities have not yet issued an official statement on the incident, but Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador is expected to comment on the case today during a press conference.
In the INM delegation, located on the Stanton-Lerdo international bridge, which connects Ciudad Juárez with El Paso, Texas, there were dozens of detained migrants, most of them from Venezuela.
The origin of the fire is still unknown, but witnesses told local media that the fire started in the area where the migrants were detained and some of them were trapped there.
Before the fire, several INM agents had carried out an operation to remove the migrants who were begging on the streets.
The presence of migrants in the area has intensified this year since the United States announced new measures that include the immediate deportation of migrants from Haiti, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba.
The region is experiencing a record migratory flow, with 2.76 million illegal migrants detained on the border between the United States and Mexico in 2022 and, according to data from the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the migratory flow increased by 8% in the territory Mexican.
Source: TSF
