MEXICO CITY: Nine migrants died when the pick-up truck in which they were riding flipped over in Jalapa, a town in the southeastern Mexican state of Tabasco, the National Migration Institute, or INM, said.
“The vehicle in which the foreigners were being transported was speeding and lost control before reaching a bridge over the San Marcos River,” some 55 kilometers (34 miles) southeast of Villahermosa, the state capital, according to the INM.
Nine undocumented migrants, including a girl, died in the accident, which occurred at around 2:00 p.m. Friday, local media reported.
The vehicle was transporting 15 people of different nationalities, mostly from Guatemala and El Salvador, the INM said, adding that none of the fatalities has been identified by state authorities.
Five people injured in the accident – three children and two adults – were taken to local hospitals for treatment.
The bodies were recovered by divers with the Tabasco emergency management institute and taken to the state coroner’s office, local media reported.
No official explanation for the crash has been released, although some witnesses cited by the daily said the truck was being pursued by state highway police.
The INM neither confirmed nor refuted that version of the accident in its bulletin.
Hundreds of thousands of Central Americans undertake the hazardous journey across Mexico each year on their way to the United States.
The trek is a dangerous one, with criminals and corrupt Mexican officials preying on the migrants.
Gangs kidnap, rob and murder migrants, who are often targeted in extortion schemes, Mexican officials say.
