EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – Two people were killed and four others wounded as a vehicle carrying migrants south of the border wall came under attack late Monday, according to multiple Mexican media reports.
According to the reports, gunfire erupted in the desert between San Jeronimo, Mexico (south of Santa Teresa, New Mexico) and Puerto Palomas (south of Columbus, N.M.). One news report said one of the dead was a migrant, the other a smuggler. Other reports initially said the deceased were both migrants.
Survivors told authorities their attackers came at them in tan-colored vehicles and were soldiers. The Mexican National Guard on Tuesday issued a statement to local news media saying it is investigating the reports but “for the moment, the (Mexican) Army and the National Guard distance themselves from the supposed attack on migrants.”
Reports identified the wounded as three Guatemalan men and one Honduran woman. The identities of the deceased have not been confirmed.
The desert south and southwest of Santa Teresa, New Mexico, is one of the busiest migrant-smuggling corridors in the Southwestern United States, the U.S. Border Patrol has often told Border Report.
The vehicle that came under attack late Monday allegedly was carrying a ladder so the migrants could get over the border wall, Mexican news reports say.
This is a developing story and will be updated as Border Report gathers more information.
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