Cargo truck transporting Central American migrants overturns in southeastern Mexico, killing one asylum seeker and injuring 45 others
- A cargo truck transporting 70 asylum seekers from Central American crashed Tuesday morning, killing one migrant and injuring 45 others
- Authorities said the driver lost control of the vehicle on highway 180 in San Andrés Tuxtla, Veracruz, at 8am
- The migrants were traveling to the southern United States border to seek refuge from the Trump administration
- At least 10 migrants were placed at a temporary shelter in San Andrés Tuxtla
- The injured migrants were hospitalized at two medical facilities in San Andrés Tuxtla and the nearby city of Santiago
At least one Central American migrant has been reported dead and 45 others suffered injuries when the cargo truck transporting them crashed in a highway in Mexico.
Authorities said the driver of the truck lost control of the vehicle at 8am on Tuesday on highway 180 in San Andrés Tuxtla, a municipality in the southeastern state of Veracruz.
The driver was allegedly ferrying a total of 70 migrants to the southern United States border.
The identities and nationalities of the asylum seekers, including the lone casualty, were not provided by the Mexican government.
One Central American migrant died Tuesday morning in Veracruz, Mexico, when a truck transporting a group of 70 crashed. At least 45 migrants were injured and were taken to two hospitals for treatment
Paramedics tend to a migrant who was thrown off a cargo truck when the driver lost control of it and barreled over a guardrail in southeastern Mexico on Tuesday. At least one Central American migrant died and 45 others suffered injuries
A truck traveling to the southern United States border with 70 Central American migrants was involved in a fatal accident that left one asylum seeker dead and 45 others injured
Video images recorded by motorists that slowly drove by the accident scene showed the truck lying sideways atop a grass field near trees.
Police officers and paramedics provided treatment to the migrants in the middle of the road while others stood in shock near guardrail. Most of the injuries were minor.
The Veracruz Civil Protection Ministry said the injured migrants were taken to two hospitals in the cities of San Andrés Tuxtla and Santiago.
The state government agency also said that at least 10 migrants were transferred to the San Andrés Tuxtla Children’s Shelter where temporary housing was set up for the Central Americans immigrants.
The state of Veracruz is short distance drive from the Mexico’s southern border with Guatemala, which has become a major transit point for Central Americans who are seeking refuge from the United States.
Authorities provide treatment to some of the injured Central American passengers who were thrown off a cargo truck that crashed Tuesday morning in the southeastern Mexican state of Veracruz. At least one migrant died and 45 others were injured
At least two massive caravans formed last month in Honduras. The asylum seekers headed towards the Guatemala border town of Tecún Umán and tussled with Mexican National Guardsmen before illegally crossing into Mexico.
More than 2,000 migrants eventually were deported from Mexico and Guatemala while countless others decided to voluntarily abandoned Mexico.
Under immense pressure from President Donald Trump, the Mexican government has increased its effort to stem the flow of migrants to the 1,954-mile long border it shares with the United States when Washington backed its counterpart into a corner and threatened it with import tariffs last summer.
Mexico has remained firm in its effort to deny Central American asylum seekers the right to freely transit through its territory.
More than 55,000 migrants have requested asylum at the U.S. border and been returned to Mexico to wait out cases that will take months, if not years to resolve under the ‘Remain in Mexico’ program, also known as the Migrant Protection Protocols.
Beginning with Guatemala in July of 2019, the U.S. government signed agreements with Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador that would allow the U.S. to send asylum seekers from other countries to Central America.
Under the deals, asylum seekers won’t be given the opportunity to request asylum in the U.S., but rather will be flown to these Central American countries where they will have the opportunity to request asylum.