Ninety-eight migrants found in abandoned trailer in southern Mexico, hundreds more believed to have escaped

Mexican authorities confirmed that 98 migrants were found abandoned in Mexico. Authorities found the migrants on Wednesday; they were close to a freeway in the state of Veracruz. The trailer is believed to have been headed to the US border.

A police report said the migrants “indicated that they were abandoned by the driver.” The police report did not confirm the nationality of the migrants, however DW news reported the migrants came from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.

Witnesses told Mexican news outlets that they believed over 100 other migrants fled the scene. Between 10-12 people were believed to have been taken to hospital with for bruising and asphyxiation, as per witness reports.

“We were told there were close to 400 immigrants travelling in the trailer,” Cristobal Cisneros Valencia, who is a Civil Protection Paramedic said. “When they started to feel suffocated, they hit the roof of the trailer and most of them jumped out. That is why most of the injuries we treated were ankle and knee fractures with damaged sense of balance. We had to move one person (to a hospital for treatment) because he was unconscious.”

According to state migrant officer Carlos Enrique Escalante, the local towns people assisted in helping the migrants break out of the trailer.

Border officials have said that transporting migrants in trucks or trailers is one of the riskiest methods traffickers use. The International Organization for Migration stated that since 2014, 6,430 migrants have lost their lives whilst travelling to the United States. According to the UN, 850 of these migrants died due to either a road accident or unsafe transport.