Migrants pledge to move forward after being hit by deadly accidents in Mexico

By Josue Gonzalez

PUEBLA, Mexico (Reuters) – Some migrants from Mexico have vowed to move to the United States on Saturday after a deadly accident that killed dozens of people in the south of the country, mostly from Guatemala.

At least 55 people were killed and dozens more injured Thursday when a truck full of immigrants overturned in the state of Chiapas.

People were dumped in a truck carrying about 166 passengers after an accident on a curve outside the city of Tuxtla Gutierrez, causing one of the deadliest migrants in Mexico in the last decade.

The incident occurred while the Mexican government was trying to stop the number of migrants crossing the territory on their way north to the U.S. border.

The news of the deadly incident shocked migrants to the central state of Puebla, many of them families with children. However, some said they decided to push the United States or other Mexican cities despite the risky trips, which could put the trust in smugglers known as “coyotes.”

“For all we’ve done, it’s worth moving forward,” said Lety, a Honduran migrant who walks in on a large group of migrants on Friday.

“Those of us who are here are encouraged to continue and help each other and come together and I am very sorry for what has happened to others,” he added. “It hurts me a lot because we’re human and because we feel.”

In recent days, dozens of migrants have been sent to Puebla from the southern border town of Tapachula by Mexican immigration authorities to dismantle an improvised camp and try to deal with potential caravans of migrants heading north.

The Mexican government has ordered migrants to obtain humanitarian visas and transportation to other cities.

Carmen Morales, a 27-year-old Guatemalan who was on her way to Mexico City on Saturday, said she had no choice but to continue traveling to the United States.

“God will save the dead people, they are already in another place, but we need to feed the family,” Morales said.

“We have to keep trying to go to the United States anyway,” he said, fearing a dangerous trip but having nothing to return to Guatemala.

Officials condemned the Chiapas incident as https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/guatemala-seeks-aid-smuggler-crackdown-after-mexico-migrant-deaths-2021-12-11 as a human trafficking threat. the hands of coyotes, which often put migrants in dangerous situations, including overcrowded trucks, on their way to the U.S. border.