Eight guards and officials face possible murder charges after a blaze at a Mexican migrant detention centre in the northern border city of Ciudad Juarez killed 39 detained men.
An investigation was opened ‘for the crime of homicide and damage to property’ though other possible charges will be considered, Sara Irene Herrerias, a prosecutor specialising in human rights, said on Wednesday.
Dozens of people were locked in cells during the fire on Monday, witnesses and a survivor have said.
All the victims were male and Mexico’s government is under pressure to find out why they died after officials said women detainees at the centre were safely evacuated.
‘None of the public servants or the private security personnel took any action to open the door for the migrants who were inside,’ Herrerias told reporters.
Prosecutors have identified two federal agents, a state migration officer, and five members of a private security firm who may be responsible for the deaths, Security Minister Rosa Icela Rodriguez said at a news conference.

Source: Somali National News Agency