Shooting at migrants, including Egyptians, what happened at the Mexican border?

Mexico’s Defense Ministry has announced the deaths of six migrants after soldiers opened fire on a group of 33 migrants traveling in a small truck and trying to flee a military patrol.

A statement from the ministry showed that ten other migrants were injured in the incident, which took place on Tuesday evening. The group included people of Egyptian, Nepalese, Cuban, Indian and Pakistani nationality, although the nationalities of the deceased were not specified.

The incident occurred shortly before 9 p.m. local time while the patrol was driving on a highway near the town of Huixtla, about 40 kilometers from Tapachula on the border with Guatemala. Two trucks carrying a number of migrants of various nationalities, including Egyptian, Cuban, Nepalese, Indian and Pakistani, were heading to the United States through the Mexican border.

The trucks came under fire from Mexican soldiers who mistakenly believed they were criminal gangs operating in the area. The gunfire resulted in the deaths and injuries of several people aboard the trucks.

The ministry stated that the small truck was followed by two other vehicles similar to those used by criminal groups in the region. The soldiers reported hearing explosions before two officers opened fire. Four migrants were killed on the spot, while two others later died in hospital.

Egypt’s Ministry of Foreign, Immigration and Expatriate Affairs said Thursday that it is “monitoring the circumstances of the shooting incident in Mexico that resulted in the deaths of a number of Egyptian citizens.”