- 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) SIGN FOR TOWN ALONG HIGHWAY THAT READS "WITH PROSPERITY THERE IS GREATER OPPORTUNITY" TRUCK ON HIGHWAY DIRT STREET IN TOWN LOCAL TOWN SIGN FOR COMMUNITY GROUND GENERAL VIEW OF COMMUNITY GROUND WHERE MIGRANTS WERE FED REMAINS OF FOOD FROM MIGRANTS SHELTERED AREA OF COMMUNITY GROUND WHERE MIGRANTS WERE FED (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) LOCAL RESIDENT, JUAN MARTINEZ PARRILLA, SAYING: "They were all naked, scratches on their arms. They tricked them and some of them thought they had already arrived, they had fled to the mountains because they thought they were being followed. They arrived and were given food to eat, water, place to have a shower as well. They were given water to have a bath."
- 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: LVA0016S1QON7
- 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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