Officials reported that a fire broke out late on Monday at a migrant holding center in Ciudad Juarez, a Mexican city on the border with the United States, apparently caused by a protest over deportations.

At least 39 migrants from Central and South America died in the incident, according to officials on Tuesday.

The Guatemalan national migration institute confirmed that twenty-eight of the dead were Guatemalans, Yahoo News reported via Reuters.

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador stated that the authorities believe the blaze broke out after some migrants set fire to mattresses in protest after discovering they would be deported.

According to a spokesperson for Guatemala’s foreign ministry, Mexican officials have informed them that some Venezuelans at the migrant holding center in Ciudad Juarez had set mattresses on fire.

The center had a total of 68 adult men from Central and South America, as reported by Mexico’s National Migration Institute (INM).

Out of these, 39 died in the fire, including 28 Guatemalans, and 29 were injured and taken to four hospitals in the area, according to the INM statement.

The fire reportedly broke out on Monday night, apparently caused by a protest over deportations.

Written by staff