The number of migrants who died in a traffic accident that occurred at dawn this Sunday on the Azumbilla-El Seco highway in the Mexican state of Puebla rises to eight. One of the victims is a Cuban and there were 11 wounded from different countries including Cuba.
Of the eight deceased, three are minors. According to local media, five deceased have already been identified, all women, one of them 14 years old; two from Ecuador, two Venezuelans and Cuban Daime Irais Morales Gerez, 30 years old. The 11 injured came from Honduras, Venezuela, Colombia and Cuba. An unidentified five-year-old girl is orphaned.
🔴🧒🏽👩🏽 Three children and 5 women, migrants who died on the street #Azumbilla-Cañada Morelos, south of #puebla
Urban | News Mexico https://t.co/HxQUUU2Ks9
— URBAN📍 News from Puebla and Tlaxcala (@urbano_noticias) August 14, 2022
The tragedy happened when a truck overturned in which they were traveling on the state road from the town of Azumbilla to El Seco, according to reports from the local police and the Prensa Latina (PL) agency.
A total of 17 migrants were traveling in a Chevrolet with license plate number DNYN 757-D from the state of Chiapas.
The Cuban consul in the Central American nation, Miguel Ángel Moreno, appeared at the scene to take part in the identification of the victims, the Cuban agency adds. The Cuban ambassador to Mexico, Marcos Rodríguez, also maintains communication with Cuban officials in Puebla and with relatives of this compatriot, the media point out.
The bodies of those who died in the accident were transferred to the Tehuacán Forensic Service facilities. The injured migrants received medical treatment in different hospitals near the place of the tragic event, specifies PL.
Meanwhile, the head of the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Minrex), Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, lamented the incident via his Twitter account, offering his condolences to the families and friends of the victims and wishing those injured a speedy recovery. .
We deplore the tragic traffic accident in the Mexican municipality of Tehuacán involving migrants of different nationalities, including Cuban citizens
Heartfelt condolences to the families and friends of the victims and get well soon to those injured. 1/3
— Bruno Rodríguez P (@BrunoRguezP) August 14, 2022
Various aid organizations from Tehuacán, Esperanza and Cañada Morelos were on site to provide support, as were the state police and the national guard, who cordoned off the area and closed the highway on two lanes to prevent further breakdowns, reports the newspaper La Jornada in its Website.
While searching for data on the vehicle, it became known that since August 2, a theft, a crime committed in the state of Chiapas, has been reported and to this day it is not known if the driver is among the injured or if he fled is. points out a Mexican medium.
Thousands of Latin American migrants, including many Cubans, are trying to reach the southern border of the United States irregularly through Mexican territory in order to cross and settle in that country.
According to the latest figures from the United States Department of Customs and Border Protection, they point out that in the first eight months of the current fiscal year alone (as of October 2021), 140,602 migrants arrived from the island’s territory.