At least 17 people died Thursday, August 3, and 22 others were injured in the accident of a bus carrying Mexicans and migrants which fell into a ravine in western Mexico, authorities announced.
Nationals of India and African countries are among the victims, Mexican media said. No other details were given on the nationality of the passengers, nor on the number of foreigners among the victims.
Among the victims are “fourteen adults and three minors”, said a report from the civil protection of the state of Nayarit, on the Pacific coast. The 22 injured were hospitalized. Only one passenger is unscathed.
Migration corridor
The accident occurred around 2:45 a.m. local time (10:45 a.m. in France) aboard a bus that left Mexico City and went to Tijuana (north-west) at the border with the United States (one trip of 2,750 km in total), continued the fire chief.
The bus would have fallen into a ravine 50 meters deep. The driver fell asleep, according to Mexican media.
Mexico is a corridor through which thousands of migrants pass en route to its northern border to seek asylum in the United States or attempt to enter without a visa.
Many migrants travel clandestinely, hidden and crammed together and inside trucks in inhumane conditions, subject to mistreatment by smugglers.
In December 2021, 55 migrants were killed in a truck accident in Chiapas, southern Mexico. Most were from Central America (Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador).