Video of deadly fire at Mexico migrant centre causes outrage

Outrage is increasing successful Mexico pursuing a occurrence astatine a migrant centre successful Ciudad Juárez that killed 38 migrants.

Unverified footage has emerged, which appears to amusement the infinitesimal the occurrence started astatine the centre tally by Mexico's National Migration Institute (INE).

Uniformed officials look to locomotion distant arsenic the blaze erupts successful a corner, leaving a radical of men down successful what appears to beryllium a locked cell.

The men unsuccessfully effort to unfastened the barred doorway arsenic fume rapidly spreads.

The 32-second clip appears to travel from a information camera wrong the facility, which is located conscionable southbound of the borderline crossing astatine the Stanton-Lerdo bridge, which links Ciudad Juárez with the metropolis of El Paso successful Texas.

The BBC has reverse searched the thumbnail and 7 frames from the video and recovered nary transcript of it erstwhile to Tuesday evening, indicating that the footage is recent.

Mexico's interior curate did not contradict the video's provenance erstwhile asked astir the footage by a Mexican journalist.

The minister, Adán Augusto López, said the authorities had had entree to the video soon aft the occurrence but helium did not remark astir it immoderate further.

The footage has been wide shared connected Twitter and published by a fig of Mexican newspapers with galore radical expressing their daze astatine what they said was a nonaccomplishment by the uniformed unit to act.

They constituent to the infinitesimal astatine which 1 of the men successful azygous seems to disregard a antheral down the barred door, who appears to effort to unfastened it and fails arsenic the flames spread.

As the video has nary dependable it is not imaginable to ascertain what, if anything, was said arsenic the occurrence erupted. It is besides unclear what the uniformed unit are doing erstwhile not connected camera.

The fume past fills the country making it hard to marque retired thing beyond the glare of the flames.

The footage appears to backmost up the relationship of the woman of a Venezuelan migrant who survived the fire.

Viangly Infante Padrón told reporters that officers had near her hubby and the different antheral migrants "behind locked bars" arsenic they fled.

"There was fume everywhere. They fto the women retired and the migration staff, but it wasn't until the firefighters arrived that they fto the men out," she told Associated Press quality agency.

She besides said that the men had been protesting due to the fact that they had not been fixed immoderate h2o portion successful custody.

On Monday, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador had said that the migrants had acceptable mattresses alight "when they learned that they'd beryllium deported".

On Tuesday, helium said a thorough probe would beryllium carried retired and vowed determination would beryllium "no impunity and nary 1 volition beryllium protected".

Mexican officials accidental 68 migrants were being held successful a conception reserved for big males successful the facility. The bulk were from Guatemala with the others hailing from Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras and Venezuela.

Mexican officials person released the sanction of each 68 men who were astatine the tract erstwhile the blaze broke retired but person not yet provided clarification arsenic to which of them are dormant and which person survived.

They besides revised the fig of dormant down from 40 to 38, portion 28 are reported to beryllium earnestly injured and suffering from fume inhalation.

Distraught relatives person complained astir not being fixed capable accusation astir the destiny and whereabouts of their loved ones.

They besides queried wherefore the men were being held successful the archetypal place. Mexican officials said they had been picked up connected the streets of Ciudad Juárez connected Monday and taken to the migration centre.

Their relatives said the men had been trying to gain immoderate wealth by selling sweets and washing windscreens astatine thoroughfare corners.

The authorities of El Salvador has condemned what it described arsenic "the precise superior actions of the unit of the migration presumption (...) during the occurrence that near dozens of radical of antithetic nationalities dead, including respective Salvadoreans".

The Salvadorean authorities has demanded that those liable beryllium brought to justice.

Mexico's Foreign Minister, Marcelo Ebrard, said connected Tuesday that "those straight liable for the fire" had been turned implicit to investigators, without specifying who those individuals are.

The occurrence comes astatine a clip erstwhile Mexico is struggling to woody with an influx of migrants, astir of whom are crossing Mexico successful the anticipation of reaching the United States.

Many of them person been camped retired successful cities connected the US-Mexico borderline similar Ciudad Juárez for weeks and sometimes months awaiting the imaginable lifting of a Trump-era argumentation which allows US borderline officials to contradict individuals introduction to the US "to forestall the dispersed of communicable diseases".

The Biden Administration had moved to extremity the policy, which is known arsenic Title 42, past year, but the US Supreme Court blocked the determination astatine the extremity of December and it presently remains successful place.

However, galore migrants from Central and South America, arsenic good arsenic from arsenic acold afield arsenic Africa, proceed to embark connected agelong treks to the US-Mexico borderline successful the anticipation of the restrictions being lifted successful the coming months.