Emergency personnel work at the scene where several Cuban migrants died after a truck accident in Pijijiapan, Chiapas, Mexico October 1, 2023, in this screen grabs taken from a handout video. LUGOS TV/Handout via REUTERS
At least 10 Cuban migrants died and 17 others were seriously injured when a cargo truck ferrying them had an accident in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas, Mexico’s migration institute said on Sunday.
The accident took place along the Pacific coast stretch of the Pijijiapan-Tonalá highway in Chiapas, a common route taken by migrants who cross into Mexico from Guatemala on their way north towards the United States.
The driver of the Ford truck, which is not designed to carry so many people, fled the scene of the accident, the National Migration Institute (INM) said in a statement.
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“According to the first reports, the driver was speeding, lost control of the unit and overturned,” the INM added.
Images shared by authorities showed a truck without number plates turned on its side in a ditch by the highway, with half of the wooden bed and the tall side panels on its right side torn off.
The 17 injured people were taken to hospitals and are being monitored, INM said. One of the dead migrants was a child.
Road accidents involving migrants are not uncommon in Mexico, where many people crossing the country to the United States travel in unauthorized and poorly maintained vehicles.
In December 2021, at least 54 people believed to be of mostly Central American descent were killed when the truck they were in flipped over in Chiapas.