OAN’s Abril Elfi
10:19 AM – Saturday, October 7, 2023
A bus carrying migrants from Venezuela and Haiti crashed causing the death of at least 16 people and injuring 29 others.
On Friday, Mexico’s National Immigration Institute reported that 16 migrants had died including at least three children, and 29 others were injured.
The institute had initially reported 18 deaths, but later after investigating they changed it since prosecutors in the southern state of Oaxaca admitted that there had been an overcount because some of the remains had been dismembered, and that the true death toll was 16.
According to photos released on social media, the bus appears to be rolled over on its side on a curved section of the highway.
The institute also reported that roughly 55 migrants were on the bus, mostly from Venezuela.
The news came after last week 10 Cuban migrants died and 17 others were injured after a freight truck they were on crashed on a highway near the Guatemala border.
According to the Institute, the driver had reportedly been speeding and lost control of the truck, which was carrying 27 migrants at the time. The driver sped away from the scene.
Mexican authorities normally ban migrants without legal documentation from purchasing regular bus tickets, therefore those without the funds to employ smugglers frequently use poorly-driven, poorly-maintained trucks that speed to avoid being stopped. Alternatively, they wander alongside highways, hitching rides on passing trucks.
Salomón Jara Cruz, the governor of Oaxaca, posted in Spanish that state officials were providing aid to those involved in the Friday crash.
“We deeply regret the fatal accident that occurred on the Oaxaca-Cuacnopalan highway, in which several migrants died,” he said. “Our condolences to the families of the deceased and all our solidarity and support to the injured.”
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