At least 40 killed in blaze at Mexican immigration centre

Deportation protest at all-male Ciudad Juarez centre turned tragic with 29 injured

A Venezuelan migrant waits for her injured husband as Mexican firefighters remove the injured from the National Migration Institute. Reuters

At least 39 residents died in a fire at an immigration detention centre in the Mexican city of Ciudad Juarez near the US border, it was reported on Tuesday.

The incident on Monday night, one of the deadliest in years in the Mexico-US border area, was reportedly started by Venezuelan and Central American migrants in a complex in the city bordering Texas, said Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

The fire was started shortly before 10pm at the National Migration Institute, officials at the male-only centre for adults said.

“This had to do with a protest that they started when they realised that they were going to be deported, moved, and as a protest they put cots in the door of the shelter and they set them on fire,” Mr Obrador said.

“It’s very sad that this has happened.”

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said that Secretary General Antonio Guterres called for a "thorough investigation" of the tragic event.

White House National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson on Twitter expressed sorrow over the "heartbreaking" loss of life, and said the US government stood ready to provide Mexico with any necessary support.

Another 29 people were injured by the fire and were transferred to local hospitals, some in serious condition, the centre said.

The severe injuries and burns are making the process of identifying victims more complicated, said Venezuela’s ambassador in Mexico, Francisco Arias Cardenas.

A rescuer said there were about 70 migrants, mostly Venezuelans, at the site at the time of the fire.

Ciudad Juarez, which borders El Paso, Texas, is one of the frontier towns where undocumented migrants seeking refuge in the US remain stranded.

An International Organisation for Migration report has stated that since 2014 about 7,661 migrants have died or disappeared on their way to the US, while 988 are thought to have died in accidents or while travelling in dangerous conditions.

As migration has risen in recent years, advocates have frequently flagged concerns about poor conditions and overcrowding in the detention centres run by Mexico's immigration authorities.

"Last night’s events are a horrible example of why organisations have been working to limit or eliminate detention in Mexico," said Gretchen Kuhner, director of the Mexico-based Institute for Women in Migration, which supports migrant rights.

— With reporting from agencies