At least 39 migrants died after a fire broke out at a migrant facility in the Mexican northern border city of Ciudad Juarez, the government’s National Migration Institute (INM) said on Tuesday.
In a statement, the INM said there were 68 adult men from Central and South America staying at the facility.
Twenty-nine migrants were also injured in the blaze and were taken to four hospitals in the area, the institute said.
An AFP journalist saw firemen and rescuers placing several bodies covered with blankets in the parking lot of the INM facility in Ciudad Juarez.
INM press personnel reached by AFP confirmed the fire, but declined to specify the number of victims.
Local media, citing unnamed sources, estimated that there were nearly three dozens of deaths.
A rescuer who asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to speak to the press explained that there were about 70 migrants, mostly Venezuelans, at the site.
The fire broke out shortly before midnight, prompting the mobilization of firefighters and dozens of ambulances.
Ciudad Juarez, which neighbors El Paso, Texas, is one of the border towns where numerous undocumented migrants seeking refuge in the United States remain stranded.
A recent report by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) states that since 2014, some 7,661 migrants have died or disappeared en route to the United States, while 988 perished in accidents or while traveling in subhuman conditions.
Source – Reuters / AFP
- Agencies
