Migrants were locked in a cell as a blaze spread killing 39 people at a detention center in Mexico, witnesses and a survivor said on Wednesday, as Mexican prosecutors said they were investigating the incident as a possible homicide.
She added the probe would include examining whether a key was available to open the men's cell, or if there was another way to break the lock.
It was not until rescuers arrived that the door was opened, they said. It remains unclear how much time passed between the fire being set and the door being opened. Authorities believe the fire, which killed mostly men from Guatemala and other Central American countries, was started by migrants setting alight mattressesRescue Team Ciudad Juarez, a private paramedic service, reached the building at 10:05 p.m. and found men in military attire pulling people out of the men's unit, said a member of the group who was on site and declined to be named.
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