Dec. 10 (UPI) — At least 53 people died on Thursday as a tractor-trailer collided with a truck and overturned in southern Mexico.
The Civil Protection service of Chiapas state, where the crash took place, said at least 58 people were also injured in the crash. Three people were seriously injured.
“My condolences to the victims and affected families. In communication with the State Government and Civil Protection. We make contact with the foreign ministries of the affected countries,” Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said on Twitter.
Ebrard added that the victims included foreign nationals, while other officials said the victims appeared to be mostly, if not all Central American migrants.
“According to survivors, the majority appeared to be citizens of Guatemala,” Luis Manuel Garcia Moreno, director of civil protection for the state which is near Mexico’s border with Guatemala.
Thousands of migrants make their way through Mexico in tractor-trailers like the one involved in the crash in hopes of avoiding detection by immigration officials.
Last month, Mexican authorities found 600 migrants hidden in two trailers traveling in the state of Veracruz.
Both Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei mourned the deaths on Thursday.
“I deeply regret the tragedy in the State of Chiapas and I sympathize with the families of the victims to whom we offer all the necessary consular assistance, including repatriations,” said Giammattei.
