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Mexican President Vows Justice for Migrant Tragedy in Ciudad Juarez

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BNN Correspondents
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Image Credit: Reuters

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has promised to bring to justice those responsible for the death of 38 migrants in a fire at a holding center in the northern border city of Ciudad Juarez. The majority of the victims were men from Guatemala and other Central American countries.

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Authorities believe the fire, which occurred on Monday, was started by migrants who set alight mattresses in protest after discovering they would be deported. An investigation is underway to determine what happened at the center, which employed staff from the government's National Migration Institute as well as a private contractor.

President Lopez Obrador has assured the public that there will be no attempt to hide the facts or cover up for anyone involved. However, the Mexican government is facing pressure to explain why all the victims were male, and why the women migrants at the center were successfully evacuated.

A short video of the incident circulating on social media showed men kicking on the bars of a locked door while three uniformed people walked past without trying to open it. Interior Minister Adan Augusto Lopez later confirmed the video's authenticity to local media.

The fire is one of the deadliest migrant tragedies in years, and it has drawn attention to the challenges faced by the US and Mexico as they struggle to cope with the record levels of border crossings at their shared frontier.

On Tuesday, Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard announced that those "directly responsible" had been handed over to the attorney general's office. However, he provided no further details.

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