At least 39 killed in fire at Mexican migrant facility near U.S. border | CBC News

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A fire in a dormitory at a Mexican immigration detention centre near the U.S. border left more than three dozen migrants dead, a government agency said Tuesday, in one of the deadliest incidents ever at an immigration lockup in the country.

Images from the scene showed rows of bodies lying under silver sheets outside the facility in Ciudad Juarez, across from El Paso, Texas.

Ambulances, firefighters and vans from the morgue could also be seen.

Several people are shown standing a parking lot filled with emergency vehicles.
Mexican authorities and firefighters are shown at the scene near the National Migration Institute (INM) building in Ciudad Juarez in Mexico, located across the border from El Paso, Texas. (Jose Luis Gonzalez/Reuters)

Thirty-nine people died and 29 were injured in the fire, which broke out late Monday, according to the National Immigration Institute. The fire was detected at approximately 10 p.m. local time.

Migrants from Central and South America were held in the facility at the time of the fire, the agency said.

Ciudad Juarez is a major crossing point for migrants entering the United States. Its shelters are full of migrants waiting for opportunities to cross or who have requested asylum in the United States and are waiting out the process.

Mexico’s attorney general’s office has launched an inquiry and has investigators at the scene, according to media reports.

In recent years, as Mexico has stepped up efforts to stem the flow migration to the U.S. border under pressure from the American government, its National Immigration Institute has struggled with overcrowding in its facilities.

The high level of frustration among migrants stuck in Ciudad Juarez was on display earlier this month when hundreds of mostly Venezuelan migrants acting on false rumours that the United States would allow them to enter the country tried to force their way across one of the international bridges to El Paso. U.S. authorities blocked their attempts.

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