Death Toll in Mexico Migrant Bus Crash Climbs to 7; 24 Reported Injured

The death toll in a bus crash in northern Mexico on Wednesday has climbed to seven. Authorities said Thursday that all of those who died and the 24 injured were migrants.

According to Associated Press, one of those killed was a pregnant woman. The identities and nationalities of the deceased have yet to be reported. Preliminary reports said only six people died after the bus plunged down an embankment in San Luis Potosi state.

Prosecutors initially reported that the dead were composed of four women and six men. However, their nationalities were not immediately made available.

Among those 24 injured include an eight-year-old child and a six-month-old baby. Those who survived the bus crash in Mexico included 11 Salvadorans, seven Hondurans, and four Cubans. A Mexican and Panamanian were also injured.

Mexico Bus Crash

Local media reported that the bus departed from an area near Mexico City and was heading toward the U.S. border, TRT World reported.

Photos from the scene suggested that the bus had flipped onto its side. Reports claimed that Wednesday's bus accident was the latest in a series of deadly crashes and drownings of migrants in the last week.

It was not clear what steps Mexico's government took in connection to the bus crash. It can be recalled that a larger truck carrying migrants also overturned on a highway near the city of Tuxtla Gutierrez last December. The said accident killed at least 56 migrants.

Crackdown on Migrant Crossings Causes Riskier Routed to the U.S.

Immigrants and activist groups claimed that the crackdown on migrant crossings contributed to why illegal immigrants use riskier routes to the United States.

Immigrant activist Irineo Mujica noted that more individuals who want to seek asylum in the U.S. take more dangerous routes, and the number of people who die trying to cross Mexico is increasing.

Reports pointed out that migrants usually wade, swim, or take rafts in crossing the Mexico river in an attempt to reach the United States.

On Tuesday, authorities from Veracruz reported that at least six migrants drowned off Mexico's Gulf Coast, and one is still reportedly missing.

In another incident, a migrant father and his seven-year-old son were found dead in the Suchiate River, which marks the border between Mexico and Guatemala. Mexico's national immigration institute noted that the 36-year-old father and his son were from El Salvador.

On Saturday, at least four migrants died, and 16 were injured following a traffic collision in a town not far from Guatemala's border. The prosecutor's office did not mention the identities of the deceased but claimed that the injured included migrants from Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Ecuador.

Mexican officials have already tightened border inspections along Guatemala's border, but thousands of Central Americans still make it across, often with smugglers' aid.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Joshua Summers

WATCH: Migrants Die When Bus Plunges Off Cliff in Mexico - From TeleSUR English