(CMR) At least 40 people were killed in a fire started by migrants protesting deportation at a Mexico detention center Monday evening.
Cameras reportedly showed guards walking away after migrants placed mattresses against the bars of their detention cell and set them on fire.
The fire at the National Migration Institute (INM) happened after the authorities picked up about 71 migrants from the streets. The migrants reportedly started the fire in protest after they were told they would be deported.
Rows of bodies were laid out under shimmery silver sheets outside the immigration detention facility in Ciudad Juarez, which is across the US border from El Paso, Texas, AP reported.
“It is with deep sadness and grief that we learned of the fire that occurred inside the INM in Ciudad Juárez,” Andrea Chavez, Ciudad Juarez’s federal deputy, tweeted on Tuesday.
“We will wait for the official information, and from this moment on, we send our condolences to the families of the migrants. FGR initiated the investigation,” Chavez said.
About 29 people were taken to four local hospitals in “delicate-serious condition,” the National Migration Institute said.
The blaze is one of the worst in recent years in Mexico, which is seeing record crossings at its border with the US.
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