Ciudad Juárez (Mexico) (EFE).- At least 37 migrants died in a fire at a station of the National Migration Institute (INM) in Ciudad Juárez, on the northern border of Mexico, official sources told EFE on Tuesday.
In the area of the incident, near the Rio Grande that divides Mexico and the United States, EFE found dozens of bags containing the bodies of the migrants who perished in the fire.
The authorities have not issued an official statement on the incident, so it is expected that it will be the president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who will report on the case at his morning press conference.
At the station, located on the Stanton-Lerdo International Bridge that connects Ciudad Juárez with El Paso, Texas, there were dozens of detained migrants, mostly from Venezuela.
The origin of the fire is still unknown, but several witnesses assured local media that it started in the area where the migrant men were being held and some of them were trapped.
title 42
Before the incident, INM agents had deployed an operation to remove migrants begging from the streets.
The presence of migrants in the area has intensified this year, especially since the United States announced new measures, such as the immediate deportation of migrants from Haiti, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba who arrive by land, under title 42.
The region is experiencing a record migratory flow, with 2.76 million undocumented immigrants detained at the US-Mexico border in 2022 and, according to data from the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the migratory flow increased by 8% in Mexican territory.