Mexico Truck Crash - at Least 53 People Killed As Trailer Overturns - BBC News

12/10/21, 6:30 AM Mexico truck crash: At least 53 people killed as trailer overturns - BBC News
Let us know you agree to cookies

We use cookies to give you the best online experience. Please let us know if you agree to all of these cookies.
Yes, I agree
No, take me to settings
Home News Sport More
Menu
World Africa Asia Australia Europe Latin America Middle East US & Canada
Mexico truck crash: At least 53 people killed

as trailer overturns
42 minutes ago
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-59603801 1/8
EL LA MIRA/REUTERS
Pictures at the scene show the large truck and trailer overturned on a busy road
At least 53 people have been killed and dozens more injured after the truck
they were being transported in crashed in southern Mexico, authorities say.
Over 100 people, said to be migrants from Central America, were crammed
into the truck's trailer when it rolled and hit a bridge in the state of Chiapas.
Pictures from the crash scene show victims strewn across the road next to the
overturned truck.
There were also rows of what appeared to be bodies covered in white sheets.
It is one of the worst accidents of its kind in Mexico, with at least 58 people
injured, some seriously, said Luis Manuel Garcia, head of the Chiapas civil
protection agency.
He said the victims included men, women and children. Their nationalities
have not been confirmed, but local officials said most of the people in the
trailer were migrants from Honduras and Guatemala.
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 Tuxtla
Gutiérrez.
Chiapas, which neighbours Guatamala, is a major transit point for

undocumented migrants.
Hundreds of thousands of migrants fleeing poverty and violence in Central

America try to cross through Mexico each year in a bid to reach the US.
Many of them pay smugglers, who illegally transport them in crowded and
dangerous trucks on the long journey.
The US-Mexico border is the deadliest single crossing in the world according
to data from the International Organization for Migration (IOM). This year
alone, at least 650 people have died at the border, trying to cross it, more than
in any other year since IOM's records began.
There are also many deaths on the perilous journey towards the border,
however these are harder to accurately document, the IOM said in a
statement.
Mexico's President Andrés Manuel López Obrador described the crash as "very
painful" and wrote on Twitter that he "deeply regrets the tragedy".
Last month, a migrant caravan heading through Chiapas found that the local
authorities had clamped down so hard on people providing lifts to migrants,
they effectively had to undertake the entire journey on foot.
That meant carrying their children in their arms in the blistering heat and
torrential downpours of southern Mexico's rural states.
It's a tactic employed by the government to try to break the migrants' will, to
see if any will give up and turn back or accept asylum conditions in Mexico.
Throughout it all, trucks have continued to transport thousands of migrants

right under the noses - or with the complicity - of the state authorities.
Their trailers filled with scores of families standing in cramped and unsafe
conditions for hours, it's a wonder such accidents aren't more frequent.
Often the biggest danger to the migrants is from suffocation as the people-
smugglers fail to provide sufficient ventilation or hydration for the trip.
Yet most of those in this horrific accident came from Central America and will
have been escaping economic ruin, the effects of severe weather from climate
change on their livelihoods or gang violence. Or some combination of all of
these factors.
With that in mind, many thousands more will continue to consider the dangers
of the road to be a risk worth taking to flee the unbearable conditions at
home.
You may be interested in watching:
Watch: Why Mexico is not prepared for the migrant caravan
Related Topics
Mexico Migration
More on this story
Record high migrant detentions at US-Mexico border
23 October
What are Biden's challenges at the border?
17 November
Rights groups condemn Trump migrant policy return
6 days ago
Top Stories
At least 53 people killed in Mexico truck crash

42 minutes ago
UK PM's press chief spoke at 2020 Christmas party

1 hour ago
Actor Jussie Smollett guilty of lying about attack

3 hours ago
Features
Where are Afghanistan's women MPs Part-Thatcher, part-Merkel and wants to

now? run France
Quiz of the week: Which 'nerdy' hobby is How one woman helped save her village
Superman into? from starvation
'They would touch me but I couldn't 'Magical' - the first disabled crew to fly in
object' zero-gravity
The surprising benefits of lifelike dolls The woman deciding what you watch
BBC Travel: Britain's most remote

inhabited island
Elsewhere on the BBC
Quiz: How well do you know The Beatles? 'I look back every day and I think I will
See how many questions you can get right...
forever'
Steven Gerrard discusses his career highs and lows
Most Read
1 Actor Jussie Smollett guilty of lying about attack
2 At least 53 people killed in Mexico truck crash
3 PM's press chief spoke at No 10 party last year
4 Macron: China Olympic boycott is insignificant
5 What would be the fallout if Russia invaded Ukraine?
6 New York’s Met museum to remove Sackler name
7 US court rejects Trump's request to block files
8 Part-Thatcher, part-Merkel and wants to run France
9 Ill lawyer forces pause in Ghislaine Maxwell trial
10 'We are the bad ones', Kenyan police recruits brag
BBC News Services
On your mobile
On smart speakers
Get news alerts
Contact BBC News
Home Sport Worklife Future Music Weather


Mexico Truck Crash - at Least 53 People Killed As Trailer Overturns - BBC News

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Mexico Truck Crash - at Least 53 People Killed As Trailer Overturns - BBC News

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

12/10/21, 6:30 AM Mexico truck crash: At least 53 people killed as trailer overturns - BBC News

Let us know you agree to cookies

Home News Sport More

Mexico truck crash: At least 53 people killed

Chiapas, which neighbours Guatamala, is a major transit point for

Hundreds of thousands of migrants fleeing poverty and violence in Central

Throughout it all, trucks have continued to transport thousands of migrants

You may be interested in watching:

Watch: Why Mexico is not prepared for the migrant caravan

More on this story

Record high migrant detentions at US-Mexico border

What are Biden's challenges at the border?

Rights groups condemn Trump migrant policy return

At least 53 people killed in Mexico truck crash

UK PM's press chief spoke at 2020 Christmas party

Actor Jussie Smollett guilty of lying about attack

Where are Afghanistan's women MPs Part-Thatcher, part-Merkel and wants to

BBC Travel: Britain's most remote

Elsewhere on the BBC

1 Actor Jussie Smollett guilty of lying about attack

2 At least 53 people killed in Mexico truck crash

3 PM's press chief spoke at No 10 party last year

4 Macron: China Olympic boycott is insignificant

5 What would be the fallout if Russia invaded Ukraine?

6 New York’s Met museum to remove Sackler name

7 US court rejects Trump's request to block files

8 Part-Thatcher, part-Merkel and wants to run France

9 Ill lawyer forces pause in Ghislaine Maxwell trial

10 'We are the bad ones', Kenyan police recruits brag

BBC News Services

Get news alerts

Contact BBC News

Home Sport Worklife Future Music Weather

You might also like