By: The opinion Posted Mar 29, 2023, 0:46 am EDT
The Mexican government corrected Tuesday again in 38 the number of migrants killed by a fire that occurred on Monday around midnight at a National Migration Institute (INM) station in Ciudad Juárez, in the state of Chihuahua, on the border with the United States, and He put the number of wounded at 28.
Previously, the Mexican Immigration Institute had reported that 40 immigrants died and 28 were injured in the fire that occurred in the Provisional Stay in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, then he said that there were 39 dead immigrants and 29 wounded in delicate and serious condition and hours later the number of deceased immigrants changed again to 40.
In this last rectification it is said: “In a tour carried out by authorities from the National Institute of Migration (INM) through the different hospitals where the victims were admitted for immediate care, the number of deceased people was updated and 38 deaths were confirmed,” the statement said. INM.
Previously, the INM indicated that at 2:00 p.m. local time it had a record of 40 deceased foreign migrants and 28 injured; It also provided assistance to 15 foreign women of legal age who were evicted from the provisional stay when the fire started in the accommodation area of the immigration headquarters.”
The note also noted that the INM was collaborating with the Attorney General’s Office (FGR) and the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) with “testimonies and evidence to clarify the truth of what happened” Monday night in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua.
The numbers of deaths and injuries provided by the authorities of the Mexican government have been fluctuating since the terrible fire occurred in the INM center of Ciudad Juárez on Monday.
A video shared by the Mexican outlet Reforma shows INM guards walking away from the burning cell during the fire that killed 38 people.
This morning, the Attorney General’s Office (FGR) indicated in a statement that the identified migrants “are of the following nationalities: 1 Colombian, 1 Ecuadorian, 12 Salvadorans, 28 Guatemalans, 13 Hondurans and 13 Venezuelans,” although without specifying the deaths. and wounded.
The Mexican president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, explained in his morning press conference that the incident occurred at 9:30 p.m. (04:30 GMT) in Ciudad Juárez, on the border with the US city of El Paso, Texas, where first there was an initial balance of 37 deaths, most of them from Central America and Venezuela.
López Obrador blamed a migrant protest for the fire.
“This had to do with a protest that they started, from, we suppose, that they found out that they were going to be deported, mobilized, and as a protest, they put mats at the door of the shelter and set them on fire,” he declared.
The president “informed that the incident occurred because of a protest and that the director of the INM (Francisco Garduño) and the FGR (Attorney General of the Republic) are already investigating to determine the responsibilities,” according to Ramírez Cuevas.
The presence of migrants in the area has intensified this year since the United States announced new measures, which include the immediate deportation of migrants from Haiti, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba who arrive by land under Title 42.
The Mexican government has also faced criticism from human rights organizations for accepting US policies and deploying more than 20,000 members of the Armed Forces at the borders for immigration tasks.
According to Mexican civil organizations, 2022 was the most tragic year for migrants in Mexico, as some 900 died trying to cross without documents from the country to the United States.
The region is experiencing a record migratory flow, with 2.76 million undocumented immigrants detained at the United States border with Mexico in fiscal year 2022.
With information from EFE
Keep reading:
• Video shows how was the fire where immigrants died in Ciudad Juárez
• Other tragedies that have cost the lives of migrants as they pass through Mexico
• The UN calls for an exhaustive investigation into the death of migrants in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico