A bus carrying Venezuelan migrants crashes in Mexico, leaving 16 people dead and 36 injured.

A bus carrying Venezuelan migrants crashes in Mexico, leaving 16 people dead and 36 injured.

At least 16 people were killed and 36 were injured when a bus transporting Venezuelan migrants collided with a freight truck in central Mexico on Tuesday, according to officials.

According to a news release from Mexico’s National Institute of Migration, the disaster claimed the lives of 15 Mexicans and one Venezuelan. According to the INM, the 36 injured passengers, nine of them were Venezuelan, were sent to the Tehuacán Hospital in Puebla.

On a road that leads south toward the state of Oaxaca, the tragedy happened early on Tuesday. Migrant smugglers frequently use this route.

Smugglers frequently use dangerous cars and drivers, pack too many migrants inside, or attempt to elude law enforcement, which makes accidents involving those vehicles common in Mexico.

According to the INM, the Venezuelan passengers were applying for asylum in the US and had appointments with the CBP One program, which is the name of the mobile app used by US Customs and Border Protection to process asylum requests. CBP One is now “the only way that Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans seeking to secure travel authorization” can provide the agency with their biometric data, according to the American Immigration Council.

Salomón Jara Cruz, the governor of Oaxaca, expressed his condolences to the families of those who passed away and promised assistance to those hurt in the disaster.

He tweeted in Spanish, “We deeply regret the accident that occurred on the Tehuacán-Oaxaca highway, at kilometer 91, a few hours ago.” “I have given the leaders of the pertinent agencies instructions to work together as needed and to support the injured individuals. The relatives of the departed are sent a hug and our sympathies, and they have our undivided support.

Trucks and buses are commonly used by migrants to cross Mexico on their way to the U.S. border.

A van carrying five Honduran migrants crashed on a route on Mexico’s southern Gulf coast in July, resulting in 18 more injuries. 17 migrants died in February when the bus they were riding on crashed in Puebla.

56 people were killed in 2021 when a truck carrying migrants overturned on a roadway close to the southern city of Tuxtla Gutierrez.