Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Veracruz (Agenzia Fides) - The House of Migrants ("Hermanos en el Camino"), directed by father Alejandro Solalinde, reported that last Friday, June 24, a train which left from Ixtepec, Oaxaca, heading towards Veracruz, was intercepted by an armed commando of ten people who kidnapped a group of unknown Central American immigrants. According to information gathered by Fides, the incident happened at the station of Medias Aguas, in Veracruz.
In a statement the authorities of the Casa del Migrante, run by the Catholic Church, explain that on "Friday, June 24 at 9 o'clock the train left from Ixtepec, Oaxaca, heading towards Medias Aguas, Veracruz. About 250 people jumped on the train. There was heavy rain and the train carriages manoeuvered, some of the migrants who stayed greeted those who left with cries".
Four hours later, according to the statement, before arriving at Medias Aguas, the train was stopped and intercepted by three trucks with at least 10 armed men, who began to shout in order to get the migrants to get off the train and get them on the vans.
According to the brief statement, "some ran away in the bushes and others who did not manage to escape, and were captured by these people and taken away in vans". The immigrants who managed to escape from the armed group, returned to the Casa del Migrante and said that many of their comrades had been captured, including some minors.
According to their version, there were Hondurans, Salvadorans and Guatemalans on the train, who tried to reach the center of the Mexican Republic, in order to reach, the border between Mexico and the United States. The news of the kidnapping was spread by the newspapers of the area and until now no one knows the exact number of people kidnapped. (EC) (Agenzia Fides 06/27/2011)
