Doubt lingers over origins of deadly fire at migrant detention center in Ciudad Juarez
EL PASO, Texas (CBS4) — A migrant detention center in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico went up in flames overnight Monday leaving at least 40 people dead and several injured.
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said migrants set fire to mattresses in protest after learning they would be deported.
For weeks now tension had been rising between migrants and Mexican officials.
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Due to Title 42, many migrants had been forced to stay in Juarez while awaiting the opportunity to claim asylum in the United States.
For many migrants that were chasing the American dream, it quickly turned into a deadly nightmare.
Doubts lingered about how the fire started at the National Migration Institute.
Migrants refused to take the blame for what happened.
"I don't think it was a protest. Like we say in my country there's, a cat in the bag," a migrant said.
One migrant CBS4 has been in contact with said she found it weird that women and children were not in the facility during the fire.
"I find it strange that they took out women and children before the fire started so you don't know if Mexican officials started the fire or if they're putting the blame on Venezuelans," the migrant said.
Footage from inside the detention facility showed migrants inside a cell while a fire started inside the cell. Some people outside the cell are seen leaving the building while migrants are inside.
López Obrador said he thinks migrants didn't realize how far this would go.
All of the migrants that died in the fire were from Central and South America, according to the National Migration Institute.
One migrant said he was worried for his brother and doesn't know if he's dead or alive.
"I don't know if he's dead, if he's burned, if he's alive," the migrant said.
Another migrant CBS4 has been in contact with said he had stayed at the same detention center where the fire happened.
He said he doesn't trust what he's hearing about the fire because security would strip migrants from all personal belongings and took away materials that could be used to harm themselves or others.
"I think they're [Mexican officials] lying because they are in charge of security and have strict measures to make sure we don't harm anyone," the migrant said.
Mexico's National Migration Institute is investigating the fire.
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