Video of deadly fire at Mexico migrant centre causes outrage

In Mexico, anger is mounting after a fire at a migrant center in Ciudad Juarez killed 38 migrants.

A video has been released that captures the moment a fire broke out at a center run by the National Institute of Migration (INM) in Mexico.

Uniformed officials appeared to walk away when flames erupted in a corner, leaving a group of men behind in what appeared to be a locked cell.

As the smoke spreads rapidly, the men unsuccessfully attempt to open the barred door.

The BBC confirmed the footage by reverse-searching the thumbnail and seven frames of the 32-second video, but was unable to find a copy of it by Tuesday night, suggesting the footage is recent. increase.

We also spoke with Alejandra Corona, coordinator of the Jesuit Refugee Service in Ciudad Juárez, who visits the facility weekly.

She said the view she saw in the video matched the location of a security camera at the entrance to the man’s detention area.

Corona explained that the immigration center, located just south of the bridge that connects Ciudad Juarez and the city of El Paso, Texas, has offices where immigrants are processed and areas where they can be detained.

She described the area behind the bars that can be seen in the footage as a “cell”.

“The door was always locked when we visited [this area]Even when immigrants come to talk to us, they can’t come out and we have to stay outside,” she explained.

“As far as I know, the door you see in the video is the only way out.”

Corona said he was watched by private guards and INM staff as he visited the cell, which normally holds between 40 and 60 men. .

The footage was widely shared on Twitter and appeared in many Mexican newspapers, with many people expressing their shock that uniformed staff members said they had failed to take action.

They point to a moment when one of the uniformed men appears to ignore the man behind the barred door.

There is no audio in the video so we cannot see what was said when the fire started. It’s also unclear what the uniformed staff are doing in front of the camera.

Smoke then fills the room, making it difficult to make out anything beyond the glare of the flames.

The footage appears to corroborate the testimony of the wife of a Venezuelan immigrant who survived the fire.

Vianguri Infante Padrón told reporters that police fled leaving her husband and another male migrant “behind a locked barricade”.

“There was smoke everywhere. They let the women and relocation staff out, but they couldn’t let the men out until the firefighters arrived,” she told the Associated Press. rice field.

She also said the men were protesting because they weren’t given water while in detention.

On Monday, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Oblado said migrants set fire to mattresses “when they learned they would be deported.”

On Tuesday, he said a thorough investigation would be conducted, vowing that “there will be no impunity and no one will be protected.”

Mexican authorities said a total of 68 men were at the facility at the time of the fire. The majority were from Guatemala, with the remainder from Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras and Venezuela.

Mexican authorities have released everyone’s names, but have not released any deaths or survivors.

They also revised the death toll from 40 to 38, with 28 seriously injured and reportedly suffering from smoke inhalation.

Distraught relatives complain that they are not given enough information about the fate and whereabouts of their loved ones.

Corona, of the Jesuit Refugee Service, said even the updated list of casualties still contains misinformation, adding to the anxiety of those awaiting the news.

Relatives also asked why the man was locked up in the first place.

Mr Corona told the BBC that raids to detain migrants have become more frequent in Ciudad Juárez. .”

She added that it’s important to note that it doesn’t mean that people being held in institutions have committed a crime.

“Their relatives told us that some were detained when they landed at the airport, some were detained at the bus terminal, and some were detained on the streets of the city.

The fires came as Mexico struggled to cope with an influx of immigrants. Most migrants cross Mexico in hopes of reaching the United States.

Many of them have camped for weeks, sometimes months, in cities on the U.S.-Mexico border, where “U.S. border officials deny individuals entry into the U.S. to prevent the spread of epidemics.” Waiting for the possibility of lifting Trump-era policies that allow the “disease”.

The Biden administration moved to end the policy, known as Title 42, last year, but the U.S. Supreme Court blocked the move at the end of December and is still standing.

But many migrants from Latin America and faraway Africa continue to embark on long journeys to the US-Mexico border in hopes that restrictions will be lifted.