The death of 54 migrants from Guatemala in the Mexican state of Chiapas focuses attention on the dangers of illegal migration. 58 people are reportedly injured and admitted to local hospitals. There were 166 people crammed into the truck as it overturned.
The tragedy took place in Mexico, and witnesses and survivors described it as one of the worst accidents involving migrants. Chiapas is the main transit point for migrants and asylum seekers who try to reach America. The authorities have provided a breakdown of the migrants. It seems 95 of them were from Guatemala, three from the Dominican Republic, apart from one each from Honduras, Mexico, and Ecuador.
Al Jazeera mentions footage released by the local media that showed the scenes after the tragedy. Rescue workers say many of the survivors tried to flee from the scene. They feared detention by Immigration agents.
One of the injured migrants from Guatemala said the truck crashed into the base of a steel pedestrian bridge. He also said those who died were standing up against the walls of the trailer. He was in the center of the vehicle and survived with injuries.
Migrants and asylum seekers killed or injured while traveling through Mexico
In recent months, there has been an increase in the movement of migrants through the southern border with Mexico. They want to enter America and nurture hopes of more lenient border rules of the Biden administration.
However, President Biden retained some policies of his predecessor Donald Trump.
Al Jazeera explains that there have been earlier instances of the death of migrants. Last month, 12 of them died when two trucks crashed and burned in Chiapas. In January, some of them burned to death inside a truck. In this connection, they had bullet holes, and the authorities arrested an elite Mexican police unit member.
Death of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border
According to CNN, this year, the loss of lives at the U.S.-Mexico border is more compared to previous years. That is the observation of an international agency that began to document deaths in 2014. It is the International Organization for Migration IOM. It did not specify the reason for the deaths but said crossing the U.S.
southern border is not an easy affair and entails risks. Such journeys have led to fatalities and rescues.
An official of IOM noted: "The rising migrant death toll in the region is highly alarming." This year, the number of migrants arrested along the U.S. southern border remained high. This was even during months when numbers usually go down. This would mean that many of them had to survive difficult conditions.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection attributed many deaths at the border to heat exposure. In June, there was a rise in rescues. CBP explained that human smugglers would abandon the migrants in remote and dangerous areas, and they had to be rescued.
