At least 16 migrants killed, 29 injured in a bus crash in southern Mexico
Mexico City (AP): At least 16 migrants from Venezuela and Haiti died early Friday in a bus crash in southern Mexico, authorities said.
Mexico's National Immigration Institute originally reported 18 dead, but later lowered that figure. Prosecutors in the southern state of Oaxaca later said there had been an overcount due to some of the bodies being dismembered, and that the real death toll was 16.
Both sources said the dead include two women and three children, and that 29 people were injured. There was no immediate information on their condition.
Photos from the scene showed the bus rolled over onto its side on a curvy section of highway in the southern state of Oaxaca. The cause of the crash in the town of Tepelmeme, near the border with the neighbouring state of Puebla, is under investigation.
The institute said a total of 55 migrants, mostly from Venezuela, were aboard the vehicle.
It was the latest in a series of migrant deaths in Mexico amid a surge in migrants travelling toward the US border. Because migration agents often raid regular buses, migrants and smugglers often seek out risky forms of transportation, like unregulated buses, trains or freight trucks.
Last week, 10 Cuban migrants died and 17 others were seriously injured after a freight truck they were riding in crashed on a highway in the neighbouring state of Chiapas, near the border with Guatemala.
The National Immigration Institute said all of the dead Cuban migrants were women, and one of them was under 18.
The Institute said the driver of the vehicle had apparently been speeding and lost control of the truck, which was carrying 27 migrants at the time. The driver fled the scene.
Mexican authorities generally prohibit migrants without proper documents from buying tickets for regular buses, so those without the money to hire smugglers often hire poorly-driven, poorly-maintained buses that speed to avoid being stopped. Or they walk along the side of highways, hitching rides aboard passing trucks.
Last week, a truck flipped over on a highway in Chiapas, killing two Central American migrants and injuring another 27. And two Central American migrants died last week after trying to board a moving train in the state of Coahuila near the Texas border.
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LPG issue: Lok Sabha proceedings adjourned again amid opposition protests
New Delhi (PTI): Lok Sabha proceedings were adjourned till 2 pm on Friday amid relentless protests by opposition members over the LPG situation and hike in its price due to the ongoing West Asia crisis.
As the House reassembled at 12 noon after an earlier adjournment over the same issue, Opposition members trooped into the Well and raised slogans against the government.
After laying of papers, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju slammed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for refusing to understand the pulse of the people saying if the principal opposition continues to behave in such a manner, people will punish them severely.
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"Their leader is refusing to change. Now the members are also behaving like him. Their leader is indulging in drama in Parliament premises by holding plate and glass. They think that by doing such theatrics they will be able to draw the attention of the people, but people know them very well that is why they have not been able to come to power," Rijiju said.
Expressing disappointment over the Congress behaviour, the minister said no one in the Congress party is making their leader see logic.
"Still there is time to change otherwise people of the country will punish you severely," he said.
As the opposition refused to relent, the Chair adjourned the proceedings till 2 pm.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is expected to respond to a debate on the second batch of supplementary demands for grants this afternoon.
