Dozens killed after truck carrying migrants overturns in Mexico

 BY CAROLINE VAKIL 

Authorities said that dozens of migrants were killed on Thursday after a truck carrying them turned over near the capital of the Mexican southern state of Chiapas, The New York Times reported. 

At least 53 people died during the deadly truck crash and Chiapas’s Civil Protection Service noted on social media that 58 people were wounded in the incident. The newspaper noted, however, that those figures could change given the severity of some of the injuries.

Luis Manuel García Moreno, who heads Chiapas’s Civil Protection Service, told Milenio TV that the incident happened Thursday afternoon, according to the Times. More than 100 people were on the truck that overturned, Moreno said.

Officials believe that a majority of those who died were Central American migrants. The Times noted that increasing numbers of such migrants have moved through the Chiapas state as they seek to cross into the United States with the assistance of smugglers. 

“My solidarity with the victims of the traffic accident,” Chiapas Gov. Rutilio Escandón tweeted, according to The Times. “I have given instructions to provide prompt attention and assistance to the injured. Responsibility will be determined according to the law.”

The latest data from Customs and Border Protection indicate that encounters at the southern border have decreased since their numbers last peaked in July, when over 213,000 people were arrested. The latest data available from September shows that more than 192,000 people were arrested that month.

However, the number of arrests made over the prior 12 months — between September of this year and October 2020 — show that the annual figure is a record high for the agency.

About 1.7 million people were arrested along the southern border between October 2020 and September 2021. In that same timeframe the year prior, roughly 458,000 arrests were reported.

The announcement also comes after a court order required the Biden administration to restart a Trump-era policy known as “Remain in Mexico,” which requires those seeking asylum to stay in Mexico to wait for U.S. immigration proceedings.

The International Organization for Migration said on Thursday that two migrants had been returned to Mexico under the policy, marking the first time it had been enforced under the Biden administration.

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