New Delhi: Close to 50 people were killed in a truck accident in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas on Wednesday. Most of the reported fatalities were migrants from Central America and dozens more were injured, with the death toll expected to rise.
Luis Manual Garcia – head of the Chiapas civil protection agency said “The accident occurred when the truck crashed on a sharp curve outside the city of Tuxtla Gutierrez in the state of Chiapas,”
State governor Rutilio Escandón tweeted in response to the accident. Escandón tweeted that “My solidarity with the victims of the traffic accident. I have given instructions to provide prompt attention and assistance to the injured. Responsibility will be determined according to the law.”
Video footage showed the dead and injured migrants jumbled into a pile inside the collapsed freight container, with some struggling to extract themselves from the weight of bodies piled atop them.
The victims appeared to be immigrants from Central America, though their nationalities had not yet been confirmed. Moreno reported that some of the survivors said they were from the neighboring country of Guatemala.
On the accident – the US President has urged migrants not to leave their homeland for the United States.
However, Thousands of Mexican and other people are migrating to the US without any legal process and any valid documents.
(_Vinayak Barot)