cnn
—
A bus crash in the Mexican state of Oaxaca killed 16 people on Friday, according to local authorities, who say most of the passengers were immigrants.
Among the victims are three children and two women, all of them from Venezuela and Haiti, the attorney general of the state of Oaxaca said. At least 27 people were injured and taken to nearby hospitals.
Images posted by authorities on Facebook show the large bus overturned and seriously damaged on a curve on the mountainous Oaxaca-Cuacnopalan highway.
Authorities are investigating the cause of the crash, which took place at 5 a.m. local time (7 a.m. ET). The Oaxaca state attorney general’s office had first said 18 people died in the crash, but then revised its count Friday night.
The tragedy comes after the death of at least 10 Cuban migrants, including a child, on Sunday, when the truck in which they were traveling also overturned in southern Mexico, according to local authorities.
Venezuela and Haiti are sources of large numbers of migrants traveling north, fleeing insecurity and economic crisis in their countries.
U.S. and Mexican officials have struggled to respond to the arrivals, and Washington is putting increasing pressure on Mexico City to take greater responsibility for people crossing its territory.
Food shortages and limited access to health care have driven more than 7.7 million people from Venezuela alone, a scale of displacement that surpasses Ukraine, where there is an active war.
On Thursday, senior Biden administration officials said the United States would restart deportations of Venezuelans directly to Venezuela in an attempt to stem the record influx, marking a major shift in policy.
Meanwhile, Haiti is awaiting a new multinational mission to help bring order to the country, currently roiled by rampant gang violence, kidnappings and food insecurity.
