A cargo truck that was intercepted carrying migrants on a highway in Veracruz state, Mexico in Nov. 2021.Photo: Felix Marquez/AP/Shutterstock
At least 94 migrants broke their way out of a “suffocating” freight trailer abandoned on a Mexican highway, local authorities said Thursday.
In an echo of thetragic deaths of 53 men and womenin San Antonio, Texas in June, the migrants were left inside the trailer with little room to move or breathe after it was abandoned on a highway in the state of Veracruz, theAssociated Pressreported Friday.
The people inside were then forced to break holes in the truck to escape, some reportedly through the roof, the AP added citing Carlos Enrique Escalante, the head of the migrant attention office in Veracruz.
The vehicle was discovered on Wednesday, the AP said. An official who did not want to be identified told Reuters that he thought the person transporting the migrants lacked experience as the vehicle was abandoned before an inspection point.
Police block the scene where a truck with multiple dead bodies was discovered in San Antonio, Texas.Eric Gay/AP/Shutterstock
While some of the migrants involved were injured from the escape, after jumping from the roof, the AP said none were considered life-threatening or consisted of broken bones. TheBBCadded that according to paramedics, one man, who was unconscious, was taken to the hospital.
It is expected that there were many more people inside the vehicle, the AP noted, though they fled the scene after exiting. According toReuters, about 400 migrants were being transported in the truck, per authorities in the area.
According to Dominguez, per Reuters, 32 of the migrants identified in the breakout were from Guatemala, while others came from Honduras, Ecuador, India, El Salvador and Nepal.
Guatemala’s foreign ministry released a different number on Thursday saying there were 89 people from Guatemala discovered — 55 adults and one minor, Reuters said.
The AP stated that all 94 migrants were turned over to immigration authorities.
In June, 46 men and women were found dead in an 18-wheeler in southwest San Antonio, Texas. They are all believed to have been undocumented migrants.
Just days laterthe death toll increased to 53, while 11 individuals remained hospitalized, a spokesperson for U. S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement told PEOPLE.
source: people.com
