A fire that killed at least 39 people at an immigration detention center in northern Mexico is the latest in a series of tragedies involving US-bound migrants.
Every year many thousands of people fleeing violence and poverty risk deadly accidents, drowning and crime during a long and treacherous journey overland from South or Central America.
According to the International Organization for Migration, more than 7,600 migrants have died or disappeared in transit in the Americas since 2014.
Of those, around 4,400 people perished or went missing on the US-Mexican border crossing route, according to the United Nations agency.
In addition to this week’s fire tragedy, here are some of the worst disasters involving irregular migrants transiting through the Latin American nation in recent years:
– In January 2021, the charred bodies of 16 Guatemalan migrants allegedly massacred by cartel hitmen colluding with corrupt police were found in the northern state of Tamaulipas, along with three dead Mexicans.
– On December 9, 2021, 56 mostly Central American migrants were killed and dozens injured when a people smugglers’ truck carrying around 160 people overturned in the southern state of Chiapas.
– On June 27, 2022, more than 50 migrants died after they were abandoned in a scorching hot tractor-trailer truck in San Antonio, Texas after crossing over to the United States from Mexico.
– On February 7, 2023, eight Guatemalans and one Honduran died when the truck they were traveling in fell into a stream in the northern state of Nuevo Leon. Five Mexicans also died.
– On February 19, 2023, a bus carrying migrants from South and Central America crashed on a highway between the Mexican states of Oaxaca and Puebla, leaving at least 17 people dead and 15 injured.
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