18 migrants killed in bus crash in Mexico

A bus carrying dozens of mostly Venezuelan migrants crashed in southern Mexico on Friday, killing 18 people and injuring 29 others, officials said.

The bus was carrying about 55 migrants as it traveled on a highway in the state of Oaxaca when it overturned, the state’s Civil Protection agency said on X, the site previously known as Twitter. Most of those on the bus were from Venezuela, the agency said.

Among the dead who had been identified so far, 11 were men, two were women and three were minors, the National Migration Institute of Mexico said in a statement Friday. Among those who were injured, 28 were from Venezuela and one was from Peru, the institute said.

The cause of the crash, and whether other vehicles were involved, was not disclosed.

Images posted on social media by Oaxaca’s Civil Protection agency showed the bus overturned with what appeared to be damage to the top of the vehicle.

The injured, whose conditions were unknown, were taken to local hospitals in the neighboring state of Puebla, which neighbors Oaxaca to the northwest, the Interior Ministry for Puebla said in a post. The crash happened near state lines.

Salomón Jara Cruz, the governor of Oaxaca, posted in Spanish that state officials were providing aid to those involved in the crash.

“We deeply regret the fatal accident that occurred on the Oaxaca-Cuacnopalan highway, in which several migrants died,” he said. “Our condolences to the families of the deceased and all our solidarity and support to the injured.”

Sergio Salomón, the governor of Puebla, posted in Spanish that he was “dismayed” about the crash and also expressed his support to the victims and their families.

There has been a recent wave of people from Latin America and other regions trying to reach the United States. Many of them are fleeing violence or poverty, often with their children. Many of those migrants travel through Mexico hoping to enter the United States through its border with Texas, Arizona, New Mexico or California.

Migrants face dangerous conditions on the road. In 2021, 54 people died and more than 100 others were injured in a truck accident in southern Mexico, with many of the victims believed to be migrants from Central America.