53 Killed, Dozens Injured As Truck Crammed With Migrants Crashes In Southern Mexico

Local officials said that most of the passengers crammed in the trailer of the truck were migrants from Honduras and Guatemala. 

The truck was speeding when it tumbled on a sharp bend and hit a pedestrian bridge on a main road | AFP

New Delhi: A truck carrying around 100 people from Central America, most of them said to be migrants, crashed in the state of Chiapas in Mexico.

Luis Manuel Garcia, head of Chiapas Civil Protection Agency told BBC: “It is one of the worst accidents of its kind in Mexico, with at least 58 people injured, some seriously.” 

He added that there were men, women and children were among the victims of the crash and their nationalities have not been confirmed yet. Although the local officials said that most of the passengers crammed in the trailer of the truck were migrants from Honduras and Guatemala. 

According to the report, the truck was speeding when it tumbled on a sharp bend and hit a pedestrian bridge on the main road that headed towards Tuxtla Gutiérrez, the capital city of Chiapas state. 

Migrants and refugees in an attempt to escape poverty and violence prevalent in Central America try to reach the US borders through Mexico in crammed up large trucks like these by smugglers in extremely dangerous conditions. 

The state of Chiapas which is next to Guatemala is a major transit point for such undocumented migrants. 

As reported by AP, in October authorities in the northern border state of Tamaulipas in Mexico caught a convoy of six freight trucks packed with 652 people, most of them from Central America, trying to cross the US border.

State Governor of Chiapas, Rutilio Escandón said that instructions were given medical assistance to the injured, “I have given instructions for the injured to receive prompt attention and assistance. Law enforcement will determine who is responsible,” wrote the Governor on Twitter.