Truck crash in southern Mexican state of Chiapas one of the worst road accidents to hit the country in recent years.
At least 49 people, most of them migrants and refugees from Central America, have died after the truck they were travelling in crashed in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas, officials said, in one of the worst road accidents to hit the country in recent years.
The accident occurred on Thursday when a large truck overturned on a dangerous curve outside the city of Tuxtla Gutierrez, said Luis Manuel Garcia, head of the Chiapas civil protection agency.
Reuters news agency images show the white truck flipped onto its side on a highway, with some people laid out on tarps on the ground for medical care.
Images also show rows of what appear to be bodies of the accident victims wrapped in white cloths.
Officials said it appeared that the driver was speeding when he lost control of the vehicle.
The fatalities included men, women and children, added Garcia, speaking in an interview with Milenio Television.
Some 58 people were hurt and taken to hospitals in the area, Garcia said. Three were gravely injured.
The nationalities of the victims were not immediately known.
Migrants and refugees fleeing poverty and violence in Central America typically trek through Mexico to reach the US border and sometimes cram into large trucks organised by smugglers in extremely dangerous conditions.
State Governor Rutilio Escandón expressed his solidarity with the victims. “I have given instructions for the injured to receive prompt attention and assistance,” he wrote on social media.
“Law enforcement will determine who is responsible,” he said.