At least 18 migrants from Venezuela and Haiti died this Friday when the bus they were traveling in overturned on a highway in the Mexican state of Oaxaca (south), where another 27 were injured, the prosecutor’s office said.

Just five days after 10 Cuban women, including a minor, died in a traffic accident in southern Chiapas state, another accident claimed the lives of two women, three minors and 13 men, Oaxaca’s public prosecutor’s office said. .

All were originally from Venezuela and Haiti, the report added, and were trying to reach the border with the United States.

A National Migration Institute (INM) bulletin reported that 55 foreigners were traveling in the vehicle and that Peruvian nationals were among the victims.

The accident occurred around 5 a.m. local time (11 a.m. GMT) this Friday, when the driver lost control of the bus and overturned on the highway connecting the cities of Oaxaca and Cuacnopalan, in the neighboring state of Puebla (center). ), according to the police. persecution.

“It is known that there are at least 27 injured passengers who have been taken to nearby hospitals for medical attention,” he added.

The INM announced that it will grant humanitarian residence permits to injured foreigners receiving medical assistance and support relatives of the deceased with the repatriation of bodies and funeral costs.

The number of deaths among migrants in these types of accidents is increasing. On September 28, two of them were killed when a truck overturned in the municipality of Mezcalapa (Chiapas), which was trying to reach the state of Veracruz (east) via a highway.

In February, a crash between the states of Puebla and Oaxaca left 17 dead and 15 injured, including migrants from Venezuela, Colombia and Central America.

The bloodiest accident was recorded in December 2021, when a trailer truck carrying more than 160 migrants crashed into a bridge in Chiapas, killing 50 people, most of them Central Americans. (JO)