Lankans caught in Mexico

8 August 2010 05:03 am

A group of 76 undocumented immigrants from Central America and Sri Lanka were rescued with signs of dehydration from inside a semi-trailer left abandoned in the southeastern state of Chiapas in Mexico, an official source said.

The semitrailer was found at Kilometer 21 (Mile 13) on the Villaflores-Ocozocoautla highway, the Chiapas delegation of the federal Attorney General’s Office said.

An anonymous report alerted cops to the plight of 76 immigrants found inside the truck “in a space approximately 3 meters (10 feet) wide by 8 meters (28 feet) long, and who showed visible signs of dehydration,” the source said.

The immigrants, who had no proof they were in the country legally, said they were from Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Sri Lanka. The source did not say how many were from which country or the number of men and women, nor if there were any children.

All were sent to the National Migration Institute for possible deportation, while the AG’s office investigates to find out who put the undocumented immigrants in that situation. (Latin America Herald Tribune)