The migrants were discovered on Wednesday night, on a highway in the eastern state of Veracruz. According to authorities, who said that the vehicle headed for the US border.
“They indicated that they were abandoned by the driver,” a police report said, without specifying the migrants’ nationalities. Civil protection authorities said that 98 undocumented foreigners were found at the site, including several children.
Around 100 more fled, witnesses told Mexican media. About a dozen people reported to taken to hospital due to bruises and symptoms of asphyxiation.
Transporting migrants in overcrowded trucks is one of the most dangerous methods used by people smugglers in Mexico.
In June, more than 50 migrants died in San Antoni0, Texas. They were abandoned in a scorching hot tractor-trailer truck.
56 US-bound migrants from Central America were killed and dozens injured in December. The truck overturned when they were traveling in southern Mexico.
Around 6,430 migrants have died or disappeared en route to the United States since 2014. According to the International Organization for Migration.
Of those, 850 were the result of vehicle accidents or linked to hazardous transport, accordingly United Nations agency.