Firefighters and Mexican soldiers rescue migrants from an immigration station in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua state on March 27, 2023, where at least 39 people were killed and dozens injured after a fire at the immigration station. (PHOTO / AFP)
CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico – At least 39 migrants died after a fire broke out late on Monday at a migrant facility in the Mexican northern border city of Ciudad Juarez, the government's National Migration Institute (INM) said on Tuesday.
In a statement, the INM said there were 68 adult men from Central and South America staying at the facility and that 29 of them were also injured in the blaze and taken to four hospitals in the area.
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A Reuters witness saw bodies lined up in body bags and confirmed that the fire, whose origins are under investigation, had been extinguished. Many of the migrants at the facility were Venezuelan, according to the Reuters witness.
The fire, one of the deadliest to hit the country in years, occurred as the US and Mexico are battling to cope with record levels of border crossings at their shared frontier.