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A bus carrying 55 migrants met an accident in southern Mexico claiming 16 lives and leaving 29 injured on Friday. The deceased were from Venezuela and Haiti.
According to the authorities, the bus rolled over onto its side on a curvy section of highway in the southern state of Oaxaca. The cause of the crash in the town of Tepelmeme, near the border with the neighbouring state of Puebla, is under investigation.
Earlier the death count was reported 18 , but later lowered that figure, said Mexico’s National Immigration Institute originally. There had been an overcount due to some of the bodies being dismembered, and that the real death toll was 16, said the prosecutors in the southern state of Oaxaca.
There was no immediate information on injured people’s condition.
Migrant deaths in Mexico
The deaths were an addition to similar incidents causing the demise of migrants in Mexico in recent times. A surge of migrants travelling toward the US border was reported in the last couple of months.
Migration issue
The migration agents often resorted to illegal methods to take the migrants to the US. Reports suggest the migrants and smugglers often seek out risky forms of transportation, like unregulated buses, trains or freight trucks.
10 Cuban migrants recently
Last week, a freight truck crashed on a highway in the neighbouring state of Chiapas, near the border with Guatemala causing deaths of 10 Cuban migrants died. 17 others were seriously injured in freight truck crash.
The Institute said the driver of the vehicle had apparently been speeding and lost control of the truck, which was carrying 27 migrants at the time. The driver fled the scene.
Mexican authorities generally prohibit migrants without proper documents from buying tickets for regular buses, so those without the money to hire smugglers often hire poorly-driven, poorly-maintained buses that speed to avoid being stopped. Or they walk along the side of highways, hitching rides aboard passing trucks.
Last week, a truck flipped over on a highway in Chiapas, killing two Central American migrants and injuring another 27. And two Central American migrants died last week after trying to board a moving train in the state of Coahuila near the Texas border.
(With AP inputs)
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