Six migrants shot dead near Mexican border

Six migrants died after Mexican soldiers opened fire on a fleeing truck near the border with Guatemala, Mexico’s Defence Department said on Wednesday.

It said soldiers claimed they heard shots as the trucks and two other vehicles approached their position late on Monday in the southern state of Chiapas, near Huixtla town.

Two soldiers opened fire on the truck, which was carrying migrants from India, Egypt, Nepal, Cuba, Pakistan and at least one other country. Soldiers then approached the truck and found four of the migrants dead, and 12 wounded.

Two of the wounded later died. There were 17 other migrants in the truck who were unharmed. The vehicle was carrying a total of 33 migrants. The area is a common route for smuggling migrants, who are often packed into freight trucks.

The department said the two soldiers who opened fire were relieved of duty pending investigations. The area is also the object of turf battles between warring drug cartels.