At least 38 people were killed in a large fire at a detention center of the Mexican immigration service in Ciudad Juárez on Monday. The images shared on Tuesday show that the alleged guards see the fire in the cell, but do not free the migrants from their plight.
The fire broke out in the detention center around 9:30 p.m. (local time) on Monday. There would have been 68 migrants there at that time.
According to the Mexican newspaper The universal the men were arrested after complaints about nuisance. After hearing that they would be sent back, some of them allegedly set fire to mattresses.
“They didn’t think the fire would cause this terrible tragedy,” said President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. Most victims come from Central America and Venezuela.
Unconfirmed footage of guards running away
Mexican authorities have not yet explained how the blaze could have turned into one of the deadliest migrant tragedies in Mexico’s recent history.
A video was released on Tuesday showing how a fire started in one of the cells. As the room fills with smoke, three people in guard uniforms walk by. Although the migrants desperately try to get out of the cell, they do not open the doors. At the end of the video, the entire room is filled with smoke.
Press agency Reuters has not yet been able to verify the video, but Interior Minister Adán Augusto said that the government has seen the images.
The number of border crossings has risen sharply
In recent weeks, migration in the area has been under a magnifying glass. Both Mexican and US authorities are seeing more and more people trying to cross the border. This has already led to unrest in some places.
The administration of US President Joe Biden announced in January that it would expand the legislation of former President Donald Trump. This will make it easier to quickly deport Cuban, Nicaraguan and Haitian migrants who have crossed the border.
