Key points
- Mexican prosecutors have announced a homicide investigation into the deaths of 39 migrants in a detention centre fire.
- The dead and 27 injured included people from Guatemala, Honduras, Venezuela, El Salvador, Colombia and Ecuador.
- Authorities have faced mounting scrutiny of their handling of the disaster since the video surfaced.
Mexican prosecutors have announced a homicide investigation into the deaths of 39 migrants in a detention centre fire in the border city of Ciudad Juarez, accusing the people in charge of doing nothing to evacuate them.
Video surveillance that appeared to show men kicking on the bars of a locked door as their cell filled with smoke has caused horror around the globe.
In the footage, whose authenticity was confirmed by the government, three guards seem to hurry away leaving migrants in their cells as flames spread and smoke rapidly fills the building.
So how did the fire start, why didn't authorities release those trapped, and why are hundreds of migrants now trying to cross from Mexico into the US?
How did the fire start?
Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Tuesday that the migrants were believed to have started the fire themselves by setting mattresses ablaze in a protest against deportations.
Sara Irene Herrerias, a prosecutor specialising in human rights, said a migrant had been accused of starting the fire by others who were inside the detention centre, but she didn't give details of the person.
Who were the migrants who died and what was the local reaction?
The dead and 27 injured included people from Guatemala, Honduras, Venezuela, El Salvador, Colombia and Ecuador, Mexican authorities said.
A Honduran embassy official, Dimas Escobar, told AFP in Ciudad Juarez that some of the injured were "unrecognisable", making it hard to determine their nationalities.
Dozens of migrants spent the night outside the National Migration Institute facility in Ciudad Juarez, which is located across the border from El Paso, in the US state of Texas.
The special prosecutor for human rights of the Attorney General of the Republic, Sara Herrerias presents a report on the fire at the Immigration Station in Cuidad Juarez, Mexico. Source: AAP / Eyepix/Sipa USA
"We want to know if they were in there or not," said Venezuelan Gilbert Zabaleta, who was looking for two friends.
Migrants left candles and flowers during a vigil outside the centre, demanding better treatment by authorities.
They also held protests in Mexico City and the country's south.
Who was responsible for the deaths?
Authorities have faced mounting scrutiny over their handling of the disaster since the video surfaced.
An investigation has been opened "for the crime of homicide and damage to property", though other possible crimes would also be considered, Ms Herrerias said.
"None of the public servants or the private security personnel took any action to open the door for the migrants who were inside," she told reporters.
Eight people had been identified as allegedly responsible for the failure following the fire that began late Monday, Security Minister Rosa Icela Rodriguez said at the same news conference.
Those include two federal agents and a state immigration official, as well as five members of a private security company.
Prosecutors were seeking several arrest warrants, Ms Herrerias said.
What have officials said?
Mr Lopez Obrador earlier vowed there would be "no impunity" over the tragedy in Ciudad Juarez.
"We will not hide anything," he told reporters.
Those found to have been responsible for "causing this painful tragedy will be punished in conformity with the law", he added.
El Salvador, which said some of its citizens were seriously injured, demanded the people running the facility be punished since the video showed migrants "were left inside the cells without any chance of getting to safety".
United Nations chief Antonio Guterres called for a "thorough investigation" into the fire.
Why are hundreds of migrants now trying to get into the US?
In Washington, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre described the video as "heartbreaking" and offered "condolences for the tragic loss of life".
She said officials from the two countries had been in contact and raised the possibility some of the injured might be allowed to receive medical assistance in the United States.
Hundreds of migrants have crossed the Rio Grande, seeking to turn themselves in to the El Paso Sector Border Patrol in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. Source: Getty / Anadolu Agency/Anadolu Agency
US President Joe Biden's administration has been hoping to stem the record tide of migrants and asylum seekers undertaking often dangerous journeys organised by smugglers to get to the United States.
About 200,000 people try to cross the border from Mexico each month, most of them fleeing poverty and violence in Central and South America.
