40 killed in fire at immigration detention center in Mexico

CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico (AP) — After migrants in northern Mexico placed mattresses against the bars of their detention cell and set them on fire, guards quickly walked away and made no apparent attempt to release the men before smoke filled the room and killed at least 40, surveillance video showed Tuesday.

Hours after the fire broke out late Monday, rows of bodies were laid out under shimmery silver sheets outside the immigration detention facility in

Ciudad Juarez, which is across the U.S. border from El Paso, Texas, and a major crossing point for migrants.

Twenty-nine people were injured and were in “delicate-serious” condition, according to the National Immigration Institute. At the time of the blaze, 68 men from Central and South America were being held at the facility, the agency said. In the video, two people dressed as guards rush into the camera frame, and at least one migrant appears by the metal gate on the other side.