Mexican authorities said Wednesday that eight employees or officials are being investigated for possible misconduct at a migrant detention center where a fire killed 39 detained men.
Mexican officials appeared to place blame for the deaths in the fire late Monday largely on private, subcontracted security guards at the detention center in Ciudad Juarez, across the border from El Paso, Texas. Video showed guards hurrying away from the smoky fire apparently without trying to free detainees.Sign up for NBC San Diego newsletters.
The deaths caused frustration, and may have played a role in a mass march late Wednesday afternoon by hundreds of migrants, who began walking toward a U.S. border crossing in the belief that American authorities would let them through. Smoke began billowing out of the migrant detention center late Monday after a group of detained migrants set fire to foam mattresses, to protest what they thought were plans to move or deport them.
Leaked surveillance video shows migrants, reportedly fearing they were about to be moved, placing foam mattresses against the bars of their detention cell and setting them on fire.
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Guards didn't free migrants as fire spread in deadly Mexican detention center fire, video showsVideo of the migrant detention center fire shows people dressed as guards coming across at least one migrant – and then hurrying away without opening the cell doors as billowing clouds of smoke fill the structure within seconds.
Read more »
Video shows guards at Mexican detention center flee fire that killed 38 without releasing migrantsTwo guards seen leaving don’t even look at the migrants frantically trying to escape from the locked cell.
Read more »
Mexican president vows no cover-up in investigation of fire that killed 38 migrantsMexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has vowed that his government will thoroughly investigate a fire that killed at least 38 migrants at a detention center in Ciudad Juarez.
Read more »
Migrants set deadly fire over deportation fears: Mexican president“This had to do with a protest that they started,” Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said Tuesday morning.
Read more »
Migrants fearing deportation set fatal fire, Mexican president saysOfficials confirmed more than three dozen people died in the fire. Shelters in Ciudad Juarez are at capacity – crowded with migrants fleeing their countries.
Read more »
Mexican immigration guards didn't release migrants as deadly fire raged, video appears to showFamily members of the 38 migrant men who died in a fire at an immigration facility in Ciudad Juárez want to know why guards did not release the men after the blaze started.
Read more »