At least 39 migrants died and 29 others were injured in a fire that struck early Tuesday, March 28, a detention center where they were held in northern Mexico, in Ciudad Juárez, a Mexican city bordering the United States, Mexican authorities said.

The National Institute of Migration (INM), which manages this center, "deplores the death of 39 migrants so far as a result of a fire," according to a statement. The 29 injured were hospitalized in serious condition in four hospitals, the MNI added, saying it was ready to help the families of the victims.

The INM said it had established contacts "with the consular authorities of the various countries to implement the actions authorized by the complete identification of deceased migrants".

The fire, unprecedented in facilities for migrants in the country, began shortly before midnight Monday, prompting the mobilization in the early morning Tuesday of firefighters and dozens of ambulances.

It started in the area where undocumented foreigners are housed. The MNI says it "strongly rejects the actions that occurred in this tragedy."

"We don't say anything"

An AFP journalist saw employees of the forensic service placing bodies in the parking lot of the center before they were taken away for identification.

The site was guarded by the military and the National Guard.

Many migrants had been transferred to the centre in recent days after a campaign by local authorities against street vendors who have many foreigners.

A rescuer who requested anonymity for lack of permission to speak said about 70 migrants, mostly Venezuelans, were at the site.

Viangly, a Venezuelan woman, screams in despair outside the centre where her 27-year-old husband was taken after he was arrested in a raid when, she claims, he holds Mexican papers. "They took him away by ambulance," she said. She knows nothing about her condition and complains that the centre's officials "don't tell you anything".

Ciudad Juarez, neighboring El Paso, Texas, is one of the border cities from which many undocumented migrants seek to reach the United States to seek asylum.

Thousands of migrants dead or missing

Since 2014, an estimated 7,661 migrants have died or gone missing on their way to the United States, according to figures from the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

On March 13, hundreds of waiting-weary migrants, mostly Venezuelans, tried to cross the border but were barred by U.S. agents.

On June 27, 56 migrants were found dead of asphyxiation in an abandoned trailer near San Antonio, Texas.

In February, US President Joe Biden took new restrictive measures on the right to asylum for migrants who crossed the border with Mexico, forcing them to apply in transit countries or online.

The measures also provide for the United States' increased use of immediate deportations, accompanied by a five-year ban on re-entry.

Some 200,000 people attempt to cross the border between Mexico and the United States every month. Migrants, anxious to escape poverty or violence in their countries of origin, often take enormous risks to enter the United States.

With AFP

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