TUXTLA GUTIERREZ: At least 49 migrants died yesterday in Mexico after the truck they were hiding in hit a retaining wall and overturned in the southern state of Chiapas, sources in the local prosecutor’s office said.
Another 40 people were hurt, three of them seriously, according to a preliminary report from the prosecutors in Chiapas, a state bordering Guatemala and a major transit point for undocumented migrants trying to reach the US.
Officials said it appeared that the driver was speeding when he lost control of the vehicle on the highway connecting the city of Chiapa de Corzo with the state capital Tuxtla Gutierrez.
The nationalities of the victims were not immediately known.
State governor Rutilio Escandon expressed his solidarity with the victims.
“I have given instructions for the injured to receive prompt attention and assistance,” he said on Twitter.
“Law enforcement will determine who is responsible,” he said.