Dozens of migrants killed in truck accident in southern Mexico

Fifty-four mostly Central Americans were killed on Thursday when the truck they were in flipped over in southern Mexico, in one of the worst accidents involving migrants who risk their lives to reach the United States.

The accident occurred when the truck crashed on a sharp curve outside the city of Tuxtla Gutierrez in the state of Chiapas, said Luis Manuel Garcia, head of the Chiapas civil protection agency.

The trailer broke open, spilling out people, when the truck crashed on a sharp curve outside the city of Tuxtla Gutierrez in the state of Chiapas, according to video footage of the aftermath and civil protection authorities.

Chiapas Governor Rutilio Escandon said 49 people died at the scene, and five more while receiving medical attention.

"It took a bend, and because of the weight of us people inside, we all went with it," said a shocked-looking Guatemalan man sitting at the scene in footage broadcast on social media.

"The trailer couldn't handle the weight of people."

More than 100 people were inside the trailer, authorities said. Several dozen were injured and taken to hospitals in Chiapas, which borders Guatemala. Dozens of Guatemalan migrants were named in lists of the injured published on social media.

A Reuters witness heard desperate cries and sobs from the survivors as Mexican officials rushed to the scene.

Reuters images show a white trailer flipped onto its side on a highway, with some people splayed out on tarps on the ground for medical care. Images also show rows of what appear to be bodies of the accident victims wrapped in white cloths.

A video of the aftermath broadcast on social media showed a woman holding a child wailing in her lap, both bathed in blood.  Another video showed a man curled up in pain inside the destroyed trailer, hardly moving as helpers pulled out bodies.

The fatalities included men, women and children, Chiapas civil protection said.

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Twitter expressed his sorrow at the “very painful” incident.

Lamento profundamente la tragedia ocasionada por la volcadura de un tráiler en Chiapas que transportaba migrantes centroamericanos. Es muy doloroso. Abrazo a los familiares de las víctimas.

— Andrés Manuel (@lopezobrador_) December 10, 2021

The accident also injured several dozen people, who were taken to hospitals in the area, authorities said.

Migrants fleeing poverty and violence in Central America typically trek through Mexico to reach the U.S. border, and sometimes cram into large trucks organized by smugglers in extremely dangerous conditions.

“This shows us that irregular migration is not the best way,” Kevin Lopez, a spokesman for Guatemala’s presidency, told Milenio television.

He did not know how many Guatemalan victims there were.

El Salvador’s foreign minister Alexandra Hill said her government was working to see if Salvadorans had died.

Mexico’s national migration institute said it would offer lodging and humanitarian visas to the survivors, and Chiapas Governor Rutilio Escandon said those responsible for the accident would be held to account.

Officials in Mexico routinely come across migrants packed into trailers, including 600 people found hidden in the back of two trucks in eastern Mexico last month.

Mexican authorities in Chiapas have attempted to persuade migrants to not form caravans to walk the thousands of miles to the U.S. border, and have begun transporting people from the southern city of Tapachula to other regions of the country.

U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration has also urged migrants not to leave their homelands for the United States.

Critics have said tougher policies lead migrants to seek out human smugglers, putting their lives at risk.

“(Authorities) generate smuggled migration that generates billions of dollars in profits,” said migrant activist Ruben Figueroa.