Mexico City (TDI): Officials have confirmed the death of six migrants on a highway in Mexico, yet they have not released identities of the victims.
The defence ministry said that soldiers chasing suspicious vehicles on a highway in Mexico opened fire and killed the migrants, according to AFP.
The soldiers on patrol found 33 migrants from Egypt, Nepal, Cuba, India and Pakistan, the ministry confirmed, but the nationalities of those killed in the incident late Tuesday in southern Chiapas state were not revealed.
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The incident took place on the day when Claudia Sheinbaum took office as Mexico’s new president and vowed to respect human rights and avoid repression by security forces.
The two soldiers who opened fire have been removed from their duties pending an investigation, according to a statement.
Officials said that the soldiers saw vehicle, apparently followed by trucks like used by criminals, travelling at high speed as it attempting to flee.
“Military personnel reported hearing gunshots, so two soldiers activated their weapons, stopping one of the flatbed trucks,” the statement said.
Four of the migrants died at the scene while two of the 12 injured lost their lives at the hospital, it added.
17 other migrants who were safe handed over to the immigration authorities, the statement said.
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According to a police report, soldiers chased a truck after it failed to stop at an army checkpoint, firing gunshots to try to stop it.
The driver turned off down a dirt road in an attempt to escape, but lost control of the vehicle, it said.
Thousands of migrants travel to US-Mexico border an attempt to cross the border every year, facing risk of accidents, kidnapping by criminal groups or extortion by corrupt officials.
More than 9,800 migrants have died or disappeared in the Americas since 2014, most of them while trying to reach the United States via Mexico, according to the International Organisation for Migration.
