- Title: Mexico rescues 147 Central American migrants headed for U.S.
- Date: 31st July 2017
- Summary: XOCHITL VIEJO, TANTIMA, VERACRUZ, MEXICO (JULY 30, 2017) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) LOCAL RESIDENT, MARIA ELENA SANTIAGO, SAYING: "There were young people, older men, women, they had brought children, small children perhaps aged eight, nine, ten, around that age. The children they brought were also running, they wanted to eat but the only thing we could do early in the morning was (to provide) a coffee, milk, cookies. That is what we gave them." TRUCK DRIVING ON ROAD TRUCK PARKED NEAR HIGHWAY
- Embargoed: 14th August 2017 03:02
- Keywords: migrants Central America Mexico US immigration officials human smugglers border Veracruz
- Location: XOCHITL VIEJO, TANTIMA, VERACRUZ, MEXICO
- City: XOCHITL VIEJO, TANTIMA, VERACRUZ, MEXICO
- Country: Mexico
- Topics: Asylum/Immigration/Refugees,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA0046S1QON7
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Mexican authorities said on Sunday (July 30) they rescued 147 Central Americans abandoned in the wilderness of Veracruz state after suspected human smugglers forced them out of the cramped tractor trailer they were travelling in on their way to the United States.
The migrants, 74 from Honduras, 59 from Guatemala, 13 from El Salvador and one from Nicaragua were in the back of the poorly ventilated vehicle as they travelled to the border state of Tamaulipas, where they would eventually be smuggled into the United States, Mexico's national immigration institute said. Among those rescued were 48 minors, including 14 travelling without an adult companion. They were abandoned near a highway in the city of Ozuluama, Veracruz.
Personnel from the immigration institute gave medical attention, food and water to the rescued Central Americans and contacted their respective embassies. Plagued by gang violence and poverty, the trio of Central American nations, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, together send the bulk of migrants entering the United States illegally. Turf wars between gangs have sparked a surge in violence in Mexico in the past 18 months, also raising the incentive for some young Mexicans to risk the crossing.
Earlier this month, 10 people died and 29 were hospitalised after more than 100 illegal immigrants were packed into a stifling tractor trailer for a 150-mile (240-km) drive from the U.S.-Mexico border to San Antonio, where survivors spilled out into a Walmart parking lot in the Texas city. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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