Mexican prosecutors introduced a murder investigation Wednesday into the latest deaths of 39 migrants in a detention middle fireplace, accusing the individuals accountable for doing nothing to evacuate them.
Authorities confronted mounting scrutiny of their dealing with of the catastrophe after video surveillance footage appeared to point out guards leaving as flames engulfed a cell with migrants locked inside.
An investigation was opened “for the crime of homicide and damage to property,” although different doable crimes would even be thought-about, mentioned Sara Irene Herrerias, a prosecutor specializing in human rights.
“None of the public servants or the private security personnel took any action to open the door for the migrants who were inside,” she informed reporters.
Eight individuals had been recognized as allegedly chargeable for the failure following the fireplace that started late Monday, Security Minister Rosa Icela Rodriguez mentioned on the identical news convention.
Those embrace two federal brokers and a state immigration official, in addition to 5 members of a personal safety firm.
Prosecutors had been searching for a number of arrest warrants, Herrerias mentioned.
A migrant had been accused of beginning the fireplace by others who had been contained in the detention middle, she added, with out giving particulars in regards to the particular person.
President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador earlier vowed there can be “no impunity” over the tragedy in Ciudad Juarez throughout the border from El Paso, within the U.S. state of Texas.
“We will not hide anything,” he informed reporters.
Those discovered to have been chargeable for “causing this painful tragedy will be punished in conformity with the law,” he added.
Lopez Obrador mentioned Tuesday that the migrants had been believed to have began the fireplace themselves in a protest in opposition to deportations.
In the video, whose authenticity was confirmed by the federal government, three guards appear to rush away leaving migrants of their cells as flames unfold and smoke quickly fills the constructing.
El Salvador, which mentioned a few of its residents had been critically injured, demanded the individuals working the power be punished because the video confirmed migrants “were left inside the cells without any chance of getting to safety.”
In Washington, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre described the video as “heartbreaking” and supplied “condolences for the tragic loss of life.”
She mentioned officers from the 2 international locations had been involved and raised the likelihood a number of the injured is likely to be allowed to obtain medical help within the United States.
Several hundred migrants later tried to cross the frontier from Ciudad Juarez earlier than surrendering to a U.S. border patrol, amid rumors the United States was permitting entry on humanitarian grounds, in accordance with an AFP reporter.
‘We wish to know’
Dozens of migrants spent the night time outdoors the National Migration Institute (INM) facility in Ciudad Juarez ready for details about their kin and buddies.
“We want to know if they were in there or not,” mentioned Venezuelan Gilbert Zabaleta, who was on the lookout for two buddies.
The lifeless and 27 injured included individuals from Guatemala, Honduras, Venezuela, El Salvador, Colombia and Ecuador, Mexican authorities mentioned.
A Honduran embassy official, Dimas Escobar, informed AFP in Ciudad Juarez that a number of the injured had been “unrecognizable,” making it arduous to find out their nationalities.
Migrants left candles and flowers throughout a vigil outdoors the middle, demanding higher therapy by authorities.
Migrants additionally held protests in Mexico City and the nation’s south.
Condolences poured in from overseas, together with from Pope Francis.
“Let us pray for the migrants who died in a tragic fire in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, so that the Lord receives them in his kingdom and consoles their families,” he mentioned.
United Nations chief Antonio Guterres known as for a “thorough investigation” into the fireplace.
U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration has been hoping to stem the report tide of migrants and asylum-seekers enterprise usually harmful journeys organized by smugglers to get to the United States.
About 200,000 individuals attempt to cross the border from Mexico every month, most of them fleeing poverty and violence in Central and South America.
Source: www.dailysabah.com
