Mexican authorities have announced that more than 150 Central American migrants have been found abandoned in a truck in a restricted area in the south of the country.

The Minister of Security for the Mexican state of Chiapas said “a routine check found 144 Guatemalans, six Nicaraguans and three Salvadorans in the truck,” noting that “they received medical attention and food before being handed over to immigration.” authorities.”

Officials in the state of Chiapas, which borders Guatemala, have stepped up efforts to find US-bound migrants who travel by truck, one of the most dangerous methods used by smugglers in Mexico.

In December 2021, 56 migrants bound for the US from Central America were killed and dozens injured when their truck overturned in southern Mexico. Since 2014, about 6,430 migrants have died or gone missing en route to the United States, according to the International Organization for Migration.

The UN agency reports that “850 of them were the result of car accidents or associated with serious transport operations.” In June, more than 50 immigrants died after they were abandoned in a heated portable trailer truck in San Antonio, Texas.