Thu | Mar 28, 2024

Arrest orders issued for six in Mexican detention centre fire

Published:Friday | March 31, 2023 | 9:01 AM
An altar with candles and photos covers the fence outside the Mexican immigration detention centre that was the site of a deadly fire, as migrants wake up after spending the night on the sidewalk in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, Thursday, March 30, 2023. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

MEXICO CITY (AP) — A Mexican court issued arrest orders Thursday for six people in relation to the fire that killed 39 migrants at a detention facility this week in the border city of Ciudad Juarez, according to the federal prosecutor leading the investigation.

Sara Irene Herrerías said they include three officials from the National Immigration Institute, two private security guards contracted by the agency and the detained migrant accused of starting the fire. She said five of the six had already been arrested and would face charges of homicide and causing injuries.

At least 39 migrants died after apparently starting a fire inside a holding cell at the facility Monday night. More than two dozen others were injured.

Federal Public Safety Secretary Rosa Icela Rodríguez said 27 migrants remained hospitalised, all of them in either serious or critical condition.

One other migrant had been discharged, she said.

The migrant accused of starting the fire suffered only slight injuries and has already been released from the hospital, presumably into custody.

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