54 killed as trailer truck carrying over 150 migrants overturns in Mexico

54 killed as trailer truck carrying over 150 migrants overturns in the state of Chiapas, southern Mexico according to authorities.

Victims were strewn across the road adjacent to the overturned truck as 49 people were confirmed d3ad at the scene and further 5 died in hospital, Chiapas Governor Rutilio Escandon said.

105 people were also injured in the crash including 83 men and 22 women.

The truck was reportedly speeding when it flipped on a sharp bend and hit a pedestrian bridge on a main road leading to the Chiapas state capital Tuxtia Gutierrez.

Chiapas is bordered by Guatamala, which is a major transit point for undocumented migrants, fleeing poverty and violence in Central America try to cross through Mexico each year in a bid to reach the US. Most of them pay smugglers, who illegally transport them in crowded and dangerous trucks on the very long journey.

According to International Organisation for Migration this year alone 650 people have died trying to cross the US-Mexico border more than in any other year since IOM’s records began.

Mexico President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador described the crash as very painful and wrote on Twitter that he “deeply regrets the tragedy.

 

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