The detention center fire in the Mexican border city of Ciudad Juarez is being investigated as a multiple homicide case. Mexico’s security minister announced Wednesday night (local time) that eight people would be charged.
The fire broke out on Monday evening, killing 39 people. 27 others were injured. The detained immigrants were held in the detention center.
The eight people identified as suspects may be responsible for the migrants’ deaths. According to the public prosecutor, none of the security guards present took any action to remove the detained migrants from their cells. A day after the fire, video footage emerged showing guards walking through a cell door as inmates desperately tried to free themselves.
Then Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador promised to punish the guilty. Lopez Obrador promised that the government would also be forthcoming about the investigation into the fire. “There will be no attempt to cover up the facts, and there will be no attempt to protect anyone,” he added.
The Attorney General applied for the first arrest warrants. It was not known when the suspects would be arrested.
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