Photo: Equipo De Rescate Cd Juárez
New footage from the deadly detention center fire near the United States-Mexico border shows migrants attempting to escape the blaze as uniformed individuals paced outside their cell.
Mexico’s National Migration Institute (INM) said39 deaths and 29 injurieswere reported following Monday’s devastating fire in the Mexican state of Chihuahua in Ciudad Juarez.
A total of 68 men from Central and South America had been staying at the facility where the fire started around 10 p.m. that evening, INM added.
At least one migrant can be seen attempting to kick through a locked door as smoke fills the room during the 30-second clip. A migrant can also be seen standing at the locked door as the smoke completely consumes the image.
Mexican PresidentAndrés Manuel López Obradorsaid migrants hadset fire to multiple mattressesthat were leaning against the bars of their detention cell, according to the NBC News and the BBC.
The migrants were protesting against possible deportations, López Obrador added, according to the Associated Press.
“They never imagined that this would cause this terrible misfortune,” López Obrador said, per the AP.
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Viangly Infante Padrón, whose husband survived the fire, was waiting outside for his release when the fire broke out, per the report. The men had been placed in cells while women and children were freed after authorities took them into custody earlier that day.
Equipo De Rescate Cd Juárez
“The ones they let out were the women, and those [employees] with immigration,” Padrón, 31, told the AP. “The men, they never took them out until the firefighters arrived.”
Padrón’s husband was among the individuals who managed to escape, per the AP’s report. The father of three was later treated at a local hospital for smoke inhalation.
Mexican officials said 68 migrants from countries such as Guatemala, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras and Venezuela were inside the cell when the fire began, according to the BBC.
On Tuesday, migrant advocates said the facility was operating beyond its capacity. Blanca Navarrete, director of Comprehensive Human Rights in Action in Ciudad Juárez, said the estimated capacity is 60 people, according to NBC News.
“They should have limits on the number of people who can be locked up, and they’re supposed to have protocols,” said Gretchen Kuhner, the director of the Mexico-based group Women in Migration, per the report.
source: people.com
