Mexico City, Mar 28 (EFE).- The Mexican Government corrected this Tuesday by 38 the number of migrants killed by a fire that occurred on Monday around midnight at a station of the National Institute of Migration (INM) of Mexico in Ciudad Juárez , on the border with the United States, and placed the number of injured at 28.
“In a tour carried out by authorities from the National Institute of Migration (INM) through the different hospitals where the victims were admitted for immediate care, the number of deceased people was updated and 38 deaths were confirmed,” the statement said. INM.
Previously, the INM indicated that at 2:00 p.m. local time it had a record of 40 deceased foreign migrants and 28 injured; It also provided assistance to 15 foreign women of legal age who were evicted from the provisional stay when the fire started in the accommodation area of the immigration headquarters.”
The note also noted that the INM was collaborating with the Attorney General of the Republic (FGR) and the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) with “testimonies and evidence to clarify the truth of what happened” on Monday night in City Juarez Chihuahua.
This morning, the FGR indicated in a statement that the identified migrants “are of the following nationalities: 1 Colombian, 1 Ecuadorian, 12 Salvadorans, 28 Guatemalans, 13 Hondurans and 13 Venezuelans”, although without specifying deaths or injuries.
The Mexican president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, explained in his morning press conference that the incident occurred at 9:30 p.m. (04:30 GMT) in Ciudad Juárez, on the border with the US city of El Paso, Texas, where there was first a balance Initial report of 37 deaths, most of them from Central America and Venezuela.
López Obrador blamed a migrant protest for the fire.
“This had to do with a protest that they started, from, we suppose, that they found out that they were going to be deported, mobilized, and as a protest, they put mats at the door of the shelter and set them on fire,” he declared.
The president “informed that the incident occurred because of a protest and that the director of the INM (Francisco Garduño) and the FGR (Attorney General of the Republic) are already investigating to determine the responsibilities,” according to Ramírez Cuevas.
Before the incident, INM agents had carried out an operation to remove migrants begging from the streets.
The presence of migrants in the area has intensified this year since the United States announced new measures, including the immediate deportation of migrants from Haiti, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba who arrive by land under Title 42.
The Mexican government has also faced criticism from human rights organizations for accepting US policies and deploying more than 20,000 elements of the Armed Forces at the borders for immigration tasks.
According to Mexican civil organizations, 2022 was the most tragic year for migrants in Mexico, as some 900 died trying to cross without documents from the country to the United States.
The region is experiencing a record migratory flow, with 2.76 million undocumented immigrants detained at the United States border with Mexico in fiscal year 2022.
