A bus carrying mostly Venezuelan migrants crashed into a freight truck Tuesday in central Mexico, killing at least 15 people and injuring 36, local authorities said.
The government of Puebla state did not say how many of the dead were migrants, but presumably, most of the casualties were among the bus passengers, and the government said most of them were Venezuelans.
The accident happened early Tuesday on a highway that runs south toward Oaxaca state. The route is frequently used by migrant smugglers.
Because smugglers often use unsafe vehicles and drivers, cram too many migrants in or try to evade police, accidents involving those vehicles are not uncommon in Mexico.
Oaxaca Gov. Salomón Jara Cruz offered his condolences to the families of those who died and said the government will support those injured in the accident.
“We deeply regret the accident that occurred on the Tehuacán-Oaxaca highway, at kilometer 91, which occurred a few hours ago,” he tweeted in Spanish. “I have instructed the heads of the relevant agencies to collaborate as necessary, as well as provide support to the injured people. We send a hug and our condolences to the families of the deceased, to whom we will also offer our full support.”
Migrants frequently use trucks and buses to travel through Mexico to reach the U.S. border.
In July, five Honduran migrants were killed and another 18 injured when the van they were riding in crashed on a road on Mexico’s southern Gulf coast. In February, 17 migrants were killed when the bus they were traveling in crashed in Puebla.
In 2021, a truck carrying migrants overturned on a highway near the southern city of Tuxtla Gutierrez, killing 56 people.
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