At least ten migrants were killed in a truck accident in Mexico

At least 10 Cuban migrants were killed and 25 were injured when a cargo truck carrying them overturned in southern Mexico on Sunday, according to local officials. This is the latest fatal accident involving migrants bound for the United States.

According to the report, the accident occurred in southern Chiapas state, close to the Guatemalan border.

A source in the prosecutor's office, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told AFP that the victims were apparently all Cuban women, one of whom was a child.

The accident occurred on a highway along the Pacific coast between the towns of Pijijiapan and Tonala, where migrants frequently travel in an effort to reach the United States -- part of a flow that has Washington increasingly concerned.

The truck, its body built partly of wood, was destroyed, with the migrants' clothes, bags and backpacks strewn around it.

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel lamented the tragedy and said the Mexican embassy was offering assistance.

"We urge you to use established, safe and orderly routes when emigrating," he told Cubans looking to leave their country.

On Thursday, two migrants died when a truck overturned in the Chiapas municipality of Mezcalapa.

Thousands of migrants from different countries have been traveling across Mexico in cramped buses, trailers and freight trains -- or on foot -- in an attempt to reach the United States.

In early August, at least 18 people died and another 23 were injured after a bus with local passengers and migrants from countries such as India, the Dominican Republic and some African nations plunged into a ravine in the state of Nayarit.

This weekend, in the northern states of Chihuahua and Zacatecas, nearly 3,000 migrants were stranded in isolated areas when the freight trains they were traveling on inexplicably stopped.

- 'Help' -

Mexican authorities said they detained more than 189,000 migrants last month, while the US border patrol has reported 1.8 million apprehensions between October 2022 and August 2023.

With the influx of migrants "overwhelming" Mexico, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has called on his US counterpart for "help."

On Friday, Washington and Mexico City pledged to redouble their efforts to strengthen economic and security cooperation on migration issues, as well as drug and arms trafficking.

Republican lawmakers in Washington have demanded that President Joe Biden's administration do more to address the issue as their anger over the influx of migrants grows.

After passing a last-minute measure on Saturday to avert a government shutdown, Republican leaders signalled their willingness to block any additional funding for Ukraine's war effort unless more money is spent on the border.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy stated on CBS's "Face the Nation" on Sunday, "I will ensure that Ukraine receives the necessary weapons, but they will not receive a large aid package if the border is not secure."

He did not specify the conditions under which he would consider the border to be "secure."