Mexico: 94 Migrants Who Almost Died Inside Truck Managed to Escape After Driver Abandoned Them

The recent Texas truck migrant tragedy, where 53 migrants died because of the sweltering heat, nearly happened again. However, the migrants managed to escape their deaths this time after the truck driver abandoned them while approaching a checkpoint in Mexico.

According to the Associated Press, 94 migrants trapped inside the truck's trailer managed to bash their way out and into the highway.

Carlos Enrique Escalante, the head of the state migrant attention office in Vera Cruz, where the truck was abandoned, said some migrants had to punch holes in order to get out. He noted that some were also able to escape through the roof of the trailer.

Local Residents in Mexico Rushed in to Help Migrants

The Washington Post reported that the truck was abandoned near the town of Acayucan in Mexico's state of Vera Cruz. Escalante said residents heard the noise and rushed in to help those still trapped inside.

Many of the locals who helped were employees of a local gas station, which was the nearest to where the truck was abandoned.

A total of 94 migrants were found and rescued inside the trailer. They were mainly non-Mexicans that came from Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador.

Following their rescue, they were then turned over to immigration authorities. However, BBC reported that authorities think others may have run away.

Mexico's National Guard and Navy are now patrolling the area and looking for people hiding in the surrounding bushes.

Many of the migrants were found with injuries, mainly ankle and knee fractures, after jumping from the top of the trailer. However, one man was found to be unconscious and taken to the hospital.

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Migrants Escaped as They Were Starting to Suffocate

Civil protection paramedic Cristóbal Cisneros Valencia talked to the media following the incident. He said the migrants "started to feel suffocated," so they started to try and batter the roof of the trailer.

They finally broke through the trailer roof, then started jumping out. Some of the migrants suffered fractures as they tried to escape.

The residents rushed in to help and alerted authorities at around 9:20 p.m. on Wednesday. Another paramedic, Kenia Díaz, said many of the migrants ran away because they feared for their well-being.

Guatemala's foreign ministry later released a statement following their rescue. They confirmed that 89 of the 94 migrants were Guatemalan. Fifty-five of them were adults, and the rest were children.

Five people were from Honduras, and four were from Ecuador. There was also one person from El Salvador, two from India, and one from Nepal.

The incident comes after what is considered the "deadliest human trafficking incident in US history" in San Antonio, Texas on June 27, when 53 migrants, including Mexicans, Hondurans, and Guatemalans, died inside a truck after those who were inside were abandoned in the sweltering heat with no access to water.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

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