At least 39 people have died in a fire at an immigrant processing center in Juarez, Mexico.
Local authorities say the fire started around 10:00 PM (local time) during a protest against deportations. Many of the victims are believed to be Venezuelans trying to reach the United States.
The Mexican city of Juarez, located across the Rio Grande from El Paso, Texas, has seen an influx of people in recent weeks. The likely reason is the anticipated end of the policy known as ‘Title 42’, which gives the U.S. government the right to expel immigrants attempting to cross the border from Mexico.
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said that immigrants set fire to mattresses in protest.
“It is related to a protest they started, we think, when they learned they would be deported,” the president said. “They did not think that this (setting fire to the mattresses) would cause this terrible tragedy,” he added.
According to local media, the immigrants inside the building where the fire occurred were gathered by authorities on Monday and taken to the center.
Sixty-eight men from Central and South America were inside the center managed by Mexico’s National Institute of Migration (INM) when the fire broke out.
Source: BBC News