Mexico: report challenges official story of migrant facility fire in which 40 died

Investigation asserts that detention centre staff had key to cell in which men were being held but did not open door to let them out

A new report has challenged the official version of events during a fire in a Mexican migrant detention facility that killed dozens, alleging that staff could have let the men out of their cell, but instead decided – or were told – not to.

The fire in Ciudad Juárez broke out on 27 March 2023, when detainees started a fire to protest conditions at the facility. But as the flames spread, the men were left in a locked cell as smoke filled the building, until firemen arrived. Forty men were killed, and another 27 survived, with life-altering injuries.