Fire in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico migrant detention center near US border blamed for at least 39 deaths

At least 39 people at an immigration detention center in a Mexican city on the U.S. border died in a fire that broke out at the facility overnight, The Associated Press news agency quoted an official with the facility, the National Immigration Institute (INM), as saying early Tuesday morning. Video from the scene showed bodies covered in blankets lined up in a row outside the facility. 

The official told the AP that at least 29 other people were injured in the blaze. There was no immediate information on what caused the fire, but Mexican media said the country’s attorney general had initiated a formal investigation, and that investigators were already on the scene.

A rescuer who asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to speak to the press told AFP there were about 70 migrants, mostly Venezuelans, at the site. Reuters reported that the victims were mostly Venezuelans.

The fire broke out shortly before midnight, prompting the mobilization of firefighters and dozens of ambulances.

Ciudad Juarez, which neighbors El Paso, Texas, is one of the border cities where numerous undocumented migrants seeking refuge in the United States remain stranded.

A recent report by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) states that since 2014, some 7,661 migrants have died or disappeared en route to the U.S. while 988 perished in accidents or while traveling in subhuman conditions.