A statement by the Egyptian Foreign Ministry stated that Minister Badr Abdel Aty directed the consular sector of the ministry and the Egyptian embassy in Mexico to closely follow the incident and communicate with the Mexican authorities to determine the circumstances of the incident.
On Wednesday, the Mexican Ministry of Defense announced that 6 migrants were killed, after soldiers opened fire on a group of 33 migrants who were on board a small truck trying to escape from a military patrol.
The ministry said in a statement that 10 other migrants were injured in the incident that occurred on Tuesday evening.
The group included immigrants from Egypt, Nepal, Cuba, India, and Pakistan, but the statement did not specify the nationalities of the deceased. Four were killed immediately, and two others were killed later in the hospital.
But Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Thursday that the six dead migrants were from Egypt, El Salvador and Peru.
“It is an unfortunate event that must be investigated and its perpetrators punished,” she added in a regular press conference.
The Ministry of Defense said that the two soldiers who opened fire on the migrants have been removed from duty, and a military court will conduct investigations.
The ministry added that it is coordinating with the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs to communicate with the relevant embassies.
Mexico is under pressure from the United States to reduce the number of migrants arriving at their shared border, as a record number of people have tried to cross in recent years to escape economic hardship and violence.
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