A road accident in southern Mexico has left more than 50 people dead and dozens injured.
According to the Associated Press, the tragedy took place Thursday in the state of Chiapas, where a freight truck carrying hundreds of migrants crashed into the base of a pedestrian bridge. Authorities say at least 55 passengers—most of whom are believed to be Central Americans—were killed in the collision.
“The ones who died were the ones who were up against the walls of the trailer,” said a migrant from Guatemala, who suffered a broken arm in the crash. “Thank God, we were in the middle, but the ones on the sides, they died. They fell on top of me, there were like two or three fellow migrants on top of me … When I got out, another fellow migrant was shouting. He was shouting to me, I pulled at him and got him out and put him on the side of the road, but he died.”
The young man said the truck lost control when the driver, whose whereabouts and condition remain unknown, took a sharp turn at a high speed. The migrant told the AP there were approximately 250 people crammed into the truck. It’s reported that most of the passengers were traveling from Guatemala and Honduras.
Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei addressed the tragedy on Twitter.
“I deeply regret the tragedy in Chiapas state, and I express my solidarity for the victims’ families, to whom we will offer all the necessary consular assistance, including repatriation,” he wrote.
It remains unclear how the truck managed to avoid checkpoints operated by Mexico’s National Guard. Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador told reporters Friday the incident was being investigated.
