Six dead Soldiers shoot at migrants on the border between Mexico and Guatemala
Migrants from various countries were traveling in a truck in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas. Soldiers shoot at them - because of a mistake?
03.10.2024, 02:40
03.10.2024, 06:51
SDA
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- Mexican soldiers have opened fire on a truck carrying migrants near the border with Guatemala.
- Six of them were killed, the Mexican Ministry of Defense announced on Wednesday.
- The soldiers said they had heard gunshots as the truck and two other vehicles approached their position in the southern state of Chiapas, near the town of Huixtla, on Tuesday evening (local time).
Soldiers in southern Mexico have fired on a group of migrants who were presumably traveling in trucks with smugglers. Six people were killed and twelve others were injured, according to the Ministry of Defense. The people are said to have been mistaken for gang members.
According to official information, the incident occurred at night near the municipality of Villa Comaltitlán in the state of Chiapas. Investigations have been initiated and the two soldiers who fired the shots have been suspended from duty, the ministry added. On the same day as the incident, Mexico's first female president, Claudia Sheinbaum, was sworn in.
According to the soldiers involved, they had come across a convoy of three vehicles while on patrol. They are said to have heard shots and then fired. One of the vehicles had previously swerved at high speed. The migrants were part of a group of 33 people from Egypt, Nepal, Cuba, India, Pakistan and other countries who were traveling in one of the vehicles.
Migrants fleeing poverty, violence and political crises
For years, soldiers in Mexico have been deployed on a massive scale against the drug cartels and for other internal security tasks. Activists denounce human rights violations. Most migrants move through Mexico in the direction of the USA. They are fleeing poverty, violence and political crises in their home countries.