Five Arrested in Mexico over Fire That Killed 39 Asylum Seekers Near U.S. Border
HAVANA TIMES – In Mexico, authorities have arrested five out of the six individuals who had arrest warrants issued against them, including three officials from the National Immigration Institute, and who face homicide charges, after at least 39 asylum seekers were killed in a fire at an immigrant jail in Ciudad Juárez near the U.S. border.
One of the survivors was taken into custody, accused of starting the blaze Monday as dozens of migrants protested horrific conditions inside the overcrowded jail, where they weren’t provided water or food. Authorities began identifying the victims of the fire and notifying loved ones in their home countries, thousands of miles away. Most of the dead were Indigenous people from Guatemala; others were from Honduras, El Salvador, Venezuela and Colombia. This is Maria Miranda, the wife of 43-year-old victim Carlos Pacheco, a construction worker from El Salvador.
Maria Miranda: “I hope justice is served. It is not fair how so many innocent people die, people who fight for their families, who fight to give them a better life, put food on the table and make sure they have all they need. It is not fair. We need justice, because they could have helped, and they didn’t. They didn’t.”