At the very least 39 individuals have been killed after a fireplace broke out at a migration middle alongside the U.S.-Mexico border, officers mentioned Tuesday.
The hearth started Monday evening at a facility run by the Nationwide Migration Institute (INM) in Ciudad Juarez, the company mentioned in an announcement.
Dozens extra have been injured, with 29 individuals taken to 4 native hospitals in “delicate-serious situation,” the company mentioned, including that there have been 68 males from Central and South America being held within the facility throughout the time of the fireplace.
Photographs confirmed rows of our bodies laid below silver sheets as rescue groups, firefighters and native police responded to the scene.
The reason for the fireplace was not instantly identified. The company mentioned that it “strongly rejects the acts that led to this tragedy,” with out elaborating on what these might need been.
Authorities have been investigating and the federal government’s Nationwide Human Rights Fee had been referred to as in to assist the migrants, it mentioned.
The power, in Chihuahua state, is near the Santa Fe Worldwide Bridge and throughout the border from El Paso, Texas.
The nation’s prosecutor basic has initiated an investigation, Andrea Chávez, federal deputy of Ciudad Juarez, mentioned in a assertion on Fb. Consular groups have been additionally being engaged to establish the deceased, officers mentioned.
Mexican authorities didn’t instantly reply to requests for additional remark from NBC Information.
Ciudad Juarez is a serious crossing level for migrants making an attempt to make the journey throughout the border to the US.
Its shelters there are filled with migrants ready for alternatives to cross or who’re ready out the asylum course of.
Lately, as Mexico has stepped up efforts to stem the move migration to the U.S. border below strain from the American authorities, its Nationwide Immigration Institute has struggled with overcrowding in its amenities.
Jay Varela and Related Press contributed.
